Sacrifices of the Heart- Chaps. 1 & 2
by Lila
Summary: The Sequel to The Flow of the Lifestream. Aeris is getting visions. Along with killer headaches. The attacks come at any time, any place. And she always sees one man. When Marlene is kidnapped, Aeris knows he's the cause. AVALANCHE reunites with the ques
1. Default Chapter Title

~Yet Another Note from the Author~

I'm baaaaack! Here it is, finally, the sequel! (Be sure to have read The Flow of the Lifestream before you read this.) This one's longer and kinda, ah, more complicated. Don't worry, I won't suddenly decide to kill off Reno or someone. (If you're fans of Aeris or the Turks or both, you'll like this!) Okay, enjoy! If it's at all humanly possible… 

~Lila

While, like a ghastly rapid river

Through the pale door

A hideous throng rush out forever

And laugh- but smile no more

-Edgar Allen Poe

Prologue

Reno looked up at the gray sky above him. It seemed to reflect his mood. 

Shoving his hands into his pockets, he made his way though the packed streets of Sector 5. He hated Midgar. Just hated it. It was the place of so many memories, so many faces buried in the past. 

Not to mention sins.

He held one of his hands up to his face. Who would guess this was the same hand that had ruined so many innocent people's lives. 

He examined the hand carefully. It was white and clean, with absolutely no hint of what befouled it. 

It was so obvious to him. This hand, he was sure, should be blood-red, soaked from the blood he had shed in the past.

He remembered it so vividly. Landing swiftly in front of Barret, Tifa and Cloud. Looking them in the eye. "You're too late. Once I press this button…"

He pressed it. 

He had flung out one arm in a dramatic gesture of triumph. "That's all, folks! Mission accomplished!"

He wondered when he had turned into such a fool.

Over and over he ran the scene through his mind. It had hurt, yes. He had felt guilty, yes.

Afterward.

Why did it always have to hurt afterward?

During the actual moment of destroying the sector, he had felt no guilt, no pain. Just clear exhilaration. Afterward, when it had hurt, he had just repeated, "I don't care, I don't care, I don't care," until it stopped. Until he taught himself not to care. 

_It's way too much like getting drunk,_ he mused to himself. _When you actually drink, it feels like you're on top of the world._

Then the hangover drives you crazy.

He had always been a coward. Instead of facing pain, he always ran away from it. If there was one thing he admired it was bravery.

_I wonder when it was…_he wondered. _When I turned into such a vile bastard?_

Why did he ask such a stupid question? He knew the answer. Knew it, but didn't admit it. 

When he had lost her.

Heantha.

When his wife had died, he had taken to drinking heavily. But all it had done was make the pain worse. When that had failed, he had lost himself in his job. He started to enjoy murdering people as though they were the cause for his suffering.

It put him on a temporary high, at least. Enough to get away from the pain. 

But later, like the hangovers, it had started hurting again. So he went for another high.

Killing was a lot like a drug, he guessed. It could make you high for a while. But then, like all drugs, it could wear you down, eat you alive from the inside. 

When he looked back at himself, it scared him. 

He wondered what Tseng would say if he could see him now.

Tseng, former leader of the Turks.

Reno had admired him. He would never admit it, of course, but he always tried his best to have that calm, collective attitude. Tseng had been cool to the end.

He could almost hear his voice.

_Reno,_ he would say. _I think the question is, where did you go from there?_

The sudden question startled him. When _did_ he start realizing what he was doing? What woke him up?

Instead of an answer, a picture filled his mind. Of a young woman, praying…

To be stabbed from behind by a man with a sword.

He was an experienced killer himself, and he knew in this case most victims would scream in rage or beg for mercy.

This woman had done neither. Instead, until the end she had kept her eyes closed, praying. At the last second, she had opened her green eyes, and smiled. Then she had died. 

It was bravery like that that affected him. Something he was sure he never would have done. 

And in that last moment of the killing, he had felt real emotion. Real sympathy for Cloud, real hatred and hatred for Sephiroth, and real sorrow for the girl, mixed with something else.

Respect. He felt nothing less than admiration for her and her sacrifice.

That was why he had accompanied Cloud and the others on a quest to return her to life. Rude and Elena had just assumed it was another one of his weird mood swings, but he had known what he was doing the whole time. Yes, he had betrayed them, (by completely forgetting about the bug Scarlet and Heidegger had planted on himself for spy information) but he had kept fighting. For her sake.

He looked up as rain dotted his face. Her. Aeris. 

Sacrifices of the Heart

By Lila

Chapter 1

Aeris Gainsborough fell to her knees, one hand to her head. _Not again,_ she thought desperately. _Oh please, oh please, not again…_

But of course it was happening again. Another terrible vision. 

Scenes flashed before her eyes. People, some she knew, most she didn't, being murdered before her eyes. Violent, brutal deaths far and near, so real it almost made her sick. Carcasses drifting everywhere…

All caused by one man.

It was a man she knew she had never seen before in her life, yet he looked _so_ familiar. He was tall, with chestnut-colored hair and…

…cold, cold sea-green eyes. Just looking at them made her shudder.

He was dressed in a black suit. His casual way of wearing it, with the jacket unbuttoned and the shirt untucked, also seemed familiar, but it was ridiculous. She did not know this man.

But he seemed to know her. He smiled, right at her, each time she received a vision. And this one she was labeling the worst. Never had the screams sounded so loud…

…especially the one from the Planet. That was the loudest of all, scaring her, paining it so much it-

"_Aeris!_"

Confused, she opened her eyes. 

Cloud Strife was kneeling by her, a look of fierce concern on his face. His blue eyes were fixed on her own green ones.

She stared at him until she recognized him, then threw herself, trembling, into his arms. He looked surprised, but held her close to him until she calmed slightly.

"What happened?" he asked.

She blinked back tears. "Cloud, it was awful," she whispered. "It came again…"

"The dream?" he asked. Slowly she nodded. He knew he shouldn't ask this, but he had to know. "Aeris," he said gently. "What happens, exactly, in the dreams?"

She swallowed hard. "It's…it's people dying, Cloud. Not of natural causes. Of murders. And it all traces back to one man. The…man with cold eyes. He…he looks at me, Cloud, and he's laughing. Except his eyes are cold. And the Planet is screaming all the while and it hurts me so much…"

She closed her eyes again, as if reliving the horror. She felt Cloud watching her with a deeply troubled look on his face, then reopened them.

"I'll be all right," she assured him. "After a while. I just…I wish I knew what all this meant." She stood up, and gave him a tiny smile. "Would you like to come inside now?"

Aeris had collapsed in the garden in front of her home, while she was tending flowers. Cloud had obviously been on his way to see her when he had found her facedown in the dirt.

_These attacks have been coming more and more frequently lately_, she worried as she poured Cloud a cup of tea. She did not notice she missed the teacup almost completely. Cloud was so sweet to stick by her like this. But she really needed time alone to think. 

So it wasn't long afterward Cloud left, after her dropping hints that she was tired and needed to go to bed.

But when she was alone in the house, she didn't head upstairs. Instead she sat down and thought.

What could all this mean? Why was she receiving visions when no one else was? She wondered if she was going insane. More than once she had panicked and called the others to see if they were all right.

She rubbed her head tiredly. _That's the problem with being an Ancient,_ she thought with disgust. _You never know what's real and what's a mental breakdown symptom. _

Finally she decided to go for a walk. The walls were just way too close around her. 

Five minutes later she was outside, walking briskly down the streets of Sector 6. 

Perhaps out of childhood habit, perhaps because she simply wasn't paying attention, she found herself walking toward the playground she used to play at when she was a child, right outside the remains of Sector 7.

But when she got there, someone was already there.

A man stood with his back to her, facing the demolished sector. Aeris could tell he was filled with inexplicable sadness, even though he had his back to her. Without warning, he spoke. 

"This used to be Sector 7."

She hesitated. Then, she replied, "I know."

"I come here and look at it every day, and wonder about the lives the people who lived here had. Their hopes, their dreams for the future. All crushed. All destroyed, just like that." 

She swallowed. "Did you…lose someone when the Plate collapsed?"

He paused. "No-o." He sighed and shook his head. "More people should know this. AVALANCHE didn't destroy Sector 7." He turned to face her. "I did."

Aeris gasped in shock. Her hands flew up to her face. "Reno!"

He was as surprised as her but determined not to show it. Instead, he pasted on his usual sardonic smirk. "Aeris."

She paused. Reno was the last person she thought would pour out his heart to a complete stranger. She had always deemed him as an enemy. But then, Cloud had told her a lot about him when the Turks went along to revive her. He seemed to have changed a lot. "Hello…" she said cautiously.

His grin grew wider. "I suppose I've proved to you I'm not a heartless tyrant?"

Maybe he hadn't changed that much.

Quite suddenly, she found herself grinning back. "Not a chance."

"Ouch," he said. "I must warn you, though, you can't tell anyone about my dirty little secret. It would ruin my reputation."

"It's not a dirty secret!" she said indignantly. "It's a sweet thing to do." 

He seemed to choke on the word. "_Sweet?_ No. Reno the Turk is anything but _sweet_."

She couldn't help snorting. Reno glanced at her.

"You look kinda…" he said and couldn't think of a way to finish the sentence.

"Bad?" she supplied. She knew how she looked; hair in a disarray, probably dirt all down her front, circles under her eyes from lack of sleep.

Nightmares. She shuddered.

"Yeah, I guess." He shrugged. No one had ever called him sensitive. "Why?"

She found herself at a loss for words. 

Then, it happened.

"Eghh!" She shrieked. She stumbled back and put a hand to her head.

"Woah! Aeris!" He leapt forward and tried to catch her but she slipped from his grasp and fell.

She lost consciousness before her head hit the ground. 

******

Reno looked around frantically. What do you do when someone faints? 

Elevate their head. No, elevate their feet. Was that it?

Finally, at a loss, he took off his jacket and folded it under her head for a pillow. He leaned over her.

"Hello! Anybody home?! You okay?"

Had he said something wrong? He had never seen anyone simply faint like this.

He heard a rustle from nearby and looked up. A man, younger than himself, (_No more than a kid, _Reno thought) was standing there. He had chestnut brown hair and was wearing a rumpled black suit. Dark sunglasses shielded his eyes from view.

"You!" Reno shouted. "Go get help!"

The young man looked at him and smirked. Reno scowled.

"Do as I say, Punk!"

Still with that pain-in-the-ass smirk on his face, the man melted into the shadows. Reno knew he would not follow his request.

He was about to go get someone himself when he noticed something sticking out of Aeris' dress pocket. A PHS.

He was reaching to grab it when Aeris suddenly woke up. She screamed when she saw him so close and tried to hit him. He pulled back in surprise.

Aeris bolted up, gasping. Then she drew her knees up to her chest, put her face in her hands and cried.

Reno was at an even bigger loss than before. Strange as it may seem, he had never seen a girl cry. She looked to him the most vulnerable thing on earth. 

Cautiously he touched her shoulder. "Are you-"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" She screamed. "GET AWAY!" She drew back from him, shivering.

Now he was even more confused. "Um…it's just me. Reno."

She stared until recognition seemed to dawn. A look of shame crossed into her green eyes. 

"I'm sorry…" She said quietly.

He shrugged. "What the hell was that? You seemed to think I was attacking you or something!"

"It's just…I thought you were someone else." Her voice was almost inaudible. "That man…" She shivered.

"Huh?"

"The dream…" She murmured. "It came again. That man, and…and…oh, God! Marlene! Barret!" She jumped up. "I have to-"

He folded his arms across his chest, scowling. "You're not going anywhere until I get some answers," he said, scowling. "What _was_ that?"

"It…it's a dream I receive sometimes," she tried to explain hurriedly. "About murders…killing the Planet…and now Marlene! I have to get to her!"

"Ooooooo-kay." Obviously he hadn't understood a word she had said.

She looked at him again and shuddered. His eyes…they looked almost exactly the same as the man's. And seeing them as soon as she woke up, staring right into hers…

Suddenly she looked accusing. "What were you doing so close to me?"

To his immense displeasure, he blushed slightly. "Nothing," he answered.

"You _sure_?" she pressed. "I _do_ know what kind of guy you are."

"I was just getting at your PHS!" he cried. "I swear!" Although he knew to say the idea hadn't crossed his mind would be lying.

She glared at him a moment, then stalked off. Reno stopped to grab his jacket off the ground, then hurried after her.

"What are you doing?" she sighed.

"Coming with you," he replied, looking shocked she had to ask. "Obviously you'll need a personal bodyguard."

She sniffed. "I seem to remember hiring a bodyguard to protect me from _you._"

"Oh yeah!" He remembered. "Cloud. What was the deal, one date? I'll settle for three."

She looked at him as though he had grown an extra head. "You're crazy," she muttered. Reno only grinned. He had been called that before.

Aeris took out her PHS, jiggled it, then shook her head. Her fall must have broken it.

She began to run. "It's more urgent," she muttered. "I have to get there!"

Suddenly Reno stopped and looked around. Aeris skidded to a halt and came back for him impatiently. 

"Reno, you don't seem to understand how _important-_"

"Sh!" He placed a hand over her mouth. She wrenched it away.

"_What_?!" 

He was listening intently, though Aeris had heard nothing. Then he heard it again: The sound of a gun being cocked.

"Shit!" he yelled, and dove on top of Aeris, knocking her down.

"What do you think you're- AHHHHHHH!" Her complaint broke off into a scream as bullets whizzed by overhead.

Reno grabbed his electro-mag rod, then pulled Aeris to her feet. She was looking thoroughly scared, and held tightly to his hand. Dispite the situation, Reno grinned.

"I think I'm jacking up the price to five dates," he murmured to her. Aeris instantly dropped his hand as though it was a poisonous snake.

"You disgust me," she said, her voice equally low. "Can we just get out of here?"

He rolled his eyes. "We're surrounded. Only way I'll get you out is if you agree to my price. Five dates."

She glared at him. "Why you-"

"Okay, fine, I'll settle for three," he said agreeably. "That's as low as I'm going."

Aeris glanced around suspiciously, gripping her rod tight in both hands. She knew she'd never make it our on her own. She turned her head away in contempt. "One."

"You got yourself a deal!" He grinned. 

"And if you ever tell anyone I actually agreed to this," she added, "I'll-"

"RUN FOR IT!" He yelled, shoving her forward. He used his electro-mag rod to blow a hole through a wall of junk up ahead.

Instantly the bullets came again. One caught Reno a glancing blow on his shoulder, another snatched a lock of hair from Aeris' head. But they made it through into Sector 6.

Reno pulled his gun from his holster and glanced behind them to see if anyone was following them. (He loved his electro-mag rod, but it was mostly only good for close-range fighting.) But they were clear. Even so, they kept running until they were well away. 

When they stopped to catch their breath, Reno grinned at her. "Interesting, how they waited for us to be done with our negotiations _before_ they started firing. I think it's a message from the fates." 

She stared at him a full minute before shaking her head. "You're weird."

"Why do you say that?"

"Someone just tried to kill us, and you say it's a message from the fates!" she cried. "I bet you hired those guys to scare me into agreeing with you!"

He looked shocked. "I would never! Although it's a good idea, I wouldn't be anywhere near so underhanded. Anyway, there's a good chance that if it wasn't for my brilliant intellect, we would both be dead. So rest assured, I did not hire those guys to kill us."

She shook her head again, then staggered back in pain. "Ugh…"

"Aeris?"

"It's…happening again…" she whispered through gritted teeth. 

"What do I do?" he said tersely.

"Just wait…I'll be all right…"

She faded into blackness.

Chapter 2

Aeris swirled through dark tunnels. She wasn't moving, and yet she was. She seemed to be flying at breakneck speed through the dark.

There was light at the end of the tunnel, she could see. Yet it didn't move closer, or further away. It stayed exactly where it was.

"The light!" She screamed in the blackness. "Where is the light?!"

A low, chuckling voice answered her. "You want light? All right, I'll give you light."

With that, the whole tunnel was bathed in light. Aeris could see.

Bodies.

Bodies scattered everywhere.

She could discern her friends, Cloud, Tifa, all of them, lost in their midst. They were dead. All of them. Dead.

She fell to her knees, sobbing. "No!"  
She heard a scuffle behind her. Jumping up, she turned to look.

The man with the cold eyes was there. He grinned at her. "Behold."

She whirled around to see Reno. He was kneeling on the floor, a dead woman in his arms. Even from this distance, Aeris could easily make out the dead woman's bright green eyes.

Reno glared at the man. "You…" He rushed forward. The man yanked out a gun and shot Reno, point-blank, in the chest. 

Aeris screamed in horror. "You monster!" 

The man with the cold eyes looked right at her. "There's more to come." With a sneer, he pulled a sobbing child into view.

"Marlene!" Aeris cried. "Let her go!"

He laughed. "Come and find her, then. Take the next ship from Junon Harbor."

She writhed, trying to drive his awful laugh from her ears, but she couldn't do it.

"Stop it!" She screamed.

He kept laughing.

"Stop it! Stop it!'

A hard slap brought her to her senses. With a jolt, she woke up.

Reno was there, looking scared she might freak out again, but he needn't have worried. She lay back down. Tears slid down her cheeks.

"Sorry I had to hit you," he said, looking uncomfortable. "You were screaming."

She said nothing for the longest time. At last she whispered, "Who's that woman?"

"What?" he said in confusion.

"The woman with the dark hair, and green eyes. Who is she?"

"What's it to you?" he said sharply.

"Nothing…" she answered softly. "I just wondered who she was."

He didn't ask how Aeris knew about her. Instead he said:

"Nobody. She's nobody. And don't ever mention her again." He stood up. "Have you recovered yet?"

The sarcastic edge to his voice startled her a little. "Um…I think so." She climbed to her feet. 

"Where is it exactly we're going?" he asked curtly.

It took a moment to collect her scattered thoughts. "Something terrible is happening to Marlene," she said slowly. "Tifa's bar is closest. We can contact Barret there." 

He nodded and followed her through the sector.

******

Very soon afterward, Aeris burst through the door of Tifa's bar. "Tifa!"

She stopped. 

Barret was sitting on a stool by the bar, his face in his hands. Tifa was talking sympathetically to him from behind the counter. 

"We're too late," Aeris said softly to Reno. "It's happened."

"_What's_ happened?"

"Marlene's gone."

Aeris stepped inside the restaurant, motioning for Reno to follow her. As the door slammed shut both Tifa and Barret looked up.

One look at Barret's face was all Aeris needed. She sat on the stool next to him and spoke quietly, in a voice thick with tears.

"Barret. It's Marlene, isn't it?" 

Barret nodded once, then put his face in his hands again.

Tifa came out from behind the counter and walked up to Reno. Noting the blood on his shoulder, she said wryly, "What have you two been up to?"

"Just ran into each other on the street," he explained. "She had this weird…attack, then ran straight here. On the way we had a skirmish with some street punks."

Okay, that wasn't exactly what had happened, but Reno wasn't known for explaining things in detail.

"What happened here?" he asked.

Tifa glanced at Barret, then said, "Marlene's missing. Barret thinks she's been kidnapped."

"Why?"

"This." She produced a small slip of paper. On it were the words:

If you ever want to see your daughter again, ask the Cetra girl.

"'Cetra girl'?" he asked, glancing at Aeris. "What would she know about this?"

"I'm going to ask her now." Tifa walked over to Aeris and tapped her on the shoulder. 

Aeris' eyes widened as she read the note. Then she placed it on the counter. In a surprisingly calm voice she said, "So. This is it."

"What?" Tifa asked.

"This is what the dreams meant. They were real." She looked up at Tifa with fear in her eyes. "We have to get her back! I don't know what this man's capable of." Actually she did know, she just didn't want to alarm Barret. "And, I think we need to have a little reunion."

"What?" Tifa repeated. "You mean…"

Aeris nodded, smiling slightly. "Yes. Think about it. They all care enough about Barret to help out."

"What?" Reno interrupted. He hated being left in the dark.

"AVALANCHE is going to reunite."

******

The very next day, Cloud arrived at Junon Harbor. Everyone had agreed to meet here.

He had long since grown used to Aeris' unusual abilities as a Cetra, but these new visions of her's fascinated him. Imagine being able to see the future!

Although, Aeris didn't think they were so great. He recalled how scared she had been the other day.

"Cloud!"

Aeris waved to him from across the harbor. Tifa stood beside her, a bright smile on her face. "Hi, Cloud!'

Behind them loomed the huge form of Barret, who nodded curtly in greeting.

"It's all right, Barret," Cloud said sympathetically. "We'll get her back."

"Yeah," Barret nodded. "We can't give up."

"Hey!" Aeris pointed up to the sky.

A plane soared above them. It waggled one of its wings to them, as if waving, then headed to the nearby airport.

"Must be Cid," Tifa said, shading her eyes to follow it. "Looks like he found something to replace the Highwind."

"Hey, guys!" They turned around to see a young ninja trotting toward them. Over her shoulder she carried an empty sack. 

"Hi, Yuffie," Aeris smiled. Then she frowned. "What's that sack for?"

"Oh, this?" Yuffie said airily. "It's just for any materia I might…find…on our trip."

"Yeah right, Kid."

Cid was walking toward them, with Nanaki close behind him. "More likely you're gonna pickpocket everyone on the $@%!&^# ship."

Yuffie didn't deny it. "Well, is that everyone? I wanna get going."

"What about Vincent?" Cid inquired.

Tifa shook her head. "Couldn't reach him on the PHS. Guess he finally went back to his coffin in Nibelheim or something."

"That's still not everyone."

Reno, Rude, and Elena walked up. Reno had his usual smirk on his face.

"What, you wanna come with us?" Aeris said, surprised. Reno winked at her.

"Just gotta see that bargain I made fall through."

She would have kicked him, but Barret interrupted.

"Well, if we're not gonna get no more surprises, we'd better get movin'. The ship's about to leave!" He jerked his head at the ship, which was close to departure.

As they hurriedly climbed aboard, Reno fell into step behind Aeris. "Betcha you're to see me, huh?"

"You didn't have to do this," she said.

"Oh, but I wanted to. Life's so boring, now that Shinra's done."

He sighed, and for a moment she thought she caught a glimpse of another man there, one who missed the former discipline and training he had as a Turk.

She asked, "Do you miss the days when the Turks had all the power?"

"Oh yeah," he said breezily. "Who wouldn't miss assassinating people for money? Plus the pay was better."

She shook her head, moving on ahead. He had a warped sense of humor.

Rude caught up to Reno, also shaking his head. "You're strange. You're really strange."

"What?"

"For one thing, you're a hypocrite. For another…she's way too classy for you! And if Cloud finds out he'll have your head on a platter."

"It's nothing serious," Reno shrugged. "It's just fun baiting her. And Tifa _wasn't_ your type."

Rude stared at him a minute, then repeated, "You're really strange."

"Oh, really? And what would you do if you were alone with Tifa?"

"Now what you would," Rude scowled.

"Yeah, right."

Reno walked over to Cloud. "Hey, Spike. What time we getting there?"

Cloud glared at the name, but didn't comment. "Late tomorrow morning," he replied. 

Reno turned back to Rude. "C'mon, let's go get a drink at the bar."

When they got to the bar, Cid, Barret, and Tifa were already there. Barret was depressed, staring down at his drink.

"Cheer up, Barret," Tifa said encouragingly. "Aeris seemed pretty optimistic about this whole thing. I'm sure Marlene's okay." The truth was, Aeris had seemed nervous ever since the ship left port, and had retired to her room, complaining of a headache.

"Yeah," Barret agreed glumly. "I swear, though, when I get ahold of whoever's got my Marlene-" He made a violent motion with his hands. "-I'll snap his neck like _that_!"

"Just don't get to carried away," Tifa warned. "Remember, we don't know what we're dealing with."

******

Later that night, Cid was alone in the common room. Cigarette tight in his mouth, he leaned awkwardly over the pool table, holding the cue stick exactly like he always held his spear. 

"C'mon, you friggin' ball," he murmured. "Nice an' easy…nice an' easy…" 

He shot. The white ball completely missed what he was aiming for.

"^%@$! He exploded. "^%@$ the @#$%&^* ball! I hate this @#$%&^* game!"

Slamming the stick onto the table, he stomped over to the triangle and started reforming his balls. So what if he was missing a few? He wanted to start over, and he wasn't about to pay another ten gil to do it.

"Dumb-ass game," he murmured. "Who the hell thought of it anyway?" 

He was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. "_What_?!" He snarled furiously, turning around. 

Before he could get a glimpse of whoever it was, he was slammed firmly on the head. Cid went down hard.

The chestnut-haired man stepped around Cid and started digging through his pockets.

"Let's see what he's got," he murmured, talking more to himself than the forty or so armed men standing behind him. 

He found a pack of cigarettes, a bunch of gil, and a knife. All of which he pocketed. Lastly, he found a lighter.

"Hmmm…." He murmured, sea-green eyes glinting cruelly. He stood, and clicked the lighter a few times before it caught flame. 

Grinning to himself, he threw the lighter onto a stack of magazines. They immediately started smoking. 

"This whole place is wood," he said to his comrades. "It'll catch fire soon enough."

He stepped over Cid, kicking him aside.

"Thanks, old man."


	2. Default Chapter Title

Chapter 3

Aeris stood at the bow of the ship, looking up at the stars. They were so beautiful, so calm and sure of themselves.

So different from her…

She was worried. Though no one had mentioned it, the crew was too small. Cait Sith should be there.

But he wasn't.

Reeve had been killed, on the journey to return her to life. So had her mother, Elmyra.

She put her face in her hands. "How many people am I going to kill?" she asked aloud. "How many more will die _this_ time?"

She looked up at the heavens. "Mom," she began, not sure who she was talking to, Ifalna or Elmyra. "I need to know. Am I doing the right thing? Am I leading them the right way?"

Cloud and the others had automatically assumed she was right. That her dream was correct.

She shook her head. She couldn't get rid of the awful feeling that she was leading them into a trap.

"You're out here awful late."

She jumped, then turned to see Reno. "What do you want, Reno?" she sighed.

He leaned on the railing beside her. "Hey, no law against seeing if a fellow ship passenger is all right. You barely said a word all day."

She looked away. "It's personal."

He said nothing, just sipped his drink. At last she scowled at him. "Can't you take a hint? Go away."

He sipped his drink again. "Give me a break. I've been stuffed in that bar all day. Just came out for some fresh air."

She turned away. "Well, if you don't mind, I'd really rather be alone."

He turned over to lean his back on the railing, facing the ship. "Y'know, it's funny," he said at length.

She glared at him suspiciously. "_What_?"

"Just a short while ago I was a Turk. I killed, I blackmailed, I kidnapped. Yeah, just like whoever it is that's got Marlene. I was a jerk, I admit it. Then, all of a sudden I'm on the 'good guys' side. I'm fighting with you, against a guy who's probably just like I used to be. Thinking about that makes me feel…I don't know. Weird."

She stared at him a moment, and her face softened. "I'm sorry."

He shrugged, and silently lit a cigarette. "Thanks," he said at last. "I didn't mean to blather on like that."

They remained in silence like that until Aeris suddenly looked up. "Do you smell smoke?"

He gestured toward the cigarette.

"No." She sniffed again. "Can you put that out?"

He dropped it overboard, eyebrows raised.

"Smell the air," she commanded.

He did. "What…that's smoke!"

"Yes. Not cigarette smoke." She scanned the sky. "Look!"

Barely visible against the night sky, a column of black smoke lazily drifted in the air. 

"Shit!" Reno yelled. "The ship's on fire!"

He took off toward the source of smoke, Aeris close behind him. 

The smoke was coming from the common room. Reno coughed heavily as he stepped inside. 

"Anybody here?" he managed to croak. The smoke was so thick he could barely see in front of him.

"Damn!" came a weak voice from the floor. Reno ducked down and pulled up a heavily gasping Cid.

"What happened?" he asked.

"A guy…snuck up and hit me on the head…" Cid muttered. "When I woke up, I could barely breathe."

"Cid! Reno!" called Aeris' voice. They looked around but didn't see her.

"I'm down here. Get on the floor and crawl. Didn't anyone teach you two about fire safety?"

"Obviously, no," Cid answered as he and Reno joined her on the floor. "Where're the others?"

"Obviously, not here. C'mon, let's get out!"

With Aeris leading, they made their way to the door.

By now flames could be seen. They could hear shouts from other people. 

"Cloud!" Aeris gasped. She was about to run and find him when Reno grabbed her.

"Let's stick together. He could be at the bar."

She hesitated, then nodded. Even if Cloud wasn't, Tifa might be, and she was worried about her too. And she knew Reno was looking for Rude.

"I'll go to their cabins," Cid offered. "Save us time."

"Thanks, Cid. Good luck."

They were just hurrying down to the lower deck where the bar was when Reno cocked his head. He heard…

"Gunfire!" he yelled. "Shit! We'd better hurry!" He raced across the deck to the bar.

A sudden noise startled them. From the other entrance to the bar a man stepped in.

He was wearing a black suit, with the jacket unbuttoned and the shirt untucked. He had chestnut brown hair and a large smirk took up half his face.

"You!" Reno shouted, just as Aeris shrieked in terror.

"Ooh, glad to see you remember me," the man mocked. "Allow me to introduce myself. The name's Kralin."

Reno glanced at Aeris, who was now trembling with fear. "The hell you want?"

Kralin's smirk grew wider. "Funny you should ask. The truth of the matter is, I want you dead."

With that, he whipped out a gun and began firing. With lightning-fast reflexes, Reno shoved Aeris to the ground. 

They scrambled out the door. Reno pulled up immediately outside it and jerked out his handgun. 

"Stay low," he ordered Aeris. She didn't reply.

Instantly he jumped into the doorway and began shooting. Unfortunately, Kralin had been ready for him, and stayed out of view. Reno jerked back as bullets whizzed by his face.

Switching to retreat mode, he grabbed Aeris and raced back. The smoke was so thick he could hardly see. It seemed unlikely Kralin would be able to hit them.

He dragged Aeris over to the railing, where the air was a little clearer. She seemed hardly responsive.

"What's the matter with you?!" he demanded.

"It's…him…" she whispered.

"Who?!"

It was then a stray bullet struck Reno clear on the shoulder. The momentum flung him over the railing into the black water.

"RENO!" She couldn't see him, but she knew with an injured shoulder he'd never be able to swim.

She glanced behind her. A wall of smoke and flames met her eyes.

Steeling herself, she jumped, hitting the water with a painful smack. She sank lower and lower as she fumbled to remove her boots.

One off.

She kicked her way to the surface, gasping for air, then dove under again, numb fingers struggling to untie the laces.

At last she freed her other foot. She pulled herself to the surface.

She glanced around, looking for him. "Reno!" she cried.

He wasn't there.

Taking a deep breath, she ducked into the water. She looked around frantically, but saw something but inky blackness. It seemed hopeless.

At long last, she found him. His eyes were close, and he appeared unconscious. She hauled him to the surface, then slung her arm around him and started swimming with all her might. Maybe, just maybe, she could find land…

Before long she began to dispair. She was tired, there was no land in sight, and Reno felt like a lead weight dragging her down. He showed no sign of regaining consciousness. She feared he might be dead.

What seemed like hours passed. At last, she found herself sinking, and too tired to pull herself back up. She closed her eyes.

__

Come on, Aeris! Just a little further! Be strong! 

Her eyes snapped open. She sputtered to the surface, bringing Reno with her. 

__

Mother? She asked soundlessly.

There was no answer.

But Aeris had heard the encouragement and with newfound determination pushed forward.

Minutes of hard swimming later, she felt sand beneath her feet. With a weary sigh, she pushed onward, until she found she couldn't move anymore. 

A wave washed them both onto the beach. Aeris lay there, face down, a full minute. She wanted to scream with joy, she wanted to kiss the sand, she wanted to-

But she was too tired to do anything but lie there.

Finally, she pulled herself up slightly, and pushed Reno onto his back. She put her head to his chest and listened intently.

Yes, it was there. A heartbeat, faint but steady.

Her fingers searched until they found a hole in his jacket, surrounded by blood. Gathering the last of her strength, she concentrated.

A breeze blew around them both, strong and cool. Aeris remained contact for a few seconds, then, exhausted, flopped back down on the sand. She couldn't totally heal the wound, but at least it wouldn't pain him too much when he woke.

The last of her strength gone, she closed her eyes. The breeze dispersed as she fell into a deep and well-earned sleep.

******

Tifa had gone to bed early. There wasn't anything else to do, really, and she was sick of hanging around at the bar listening to the guys make dirty jokes. 

She felt awful for thinking this, but since Aeris had been revived, she felt even more like a third wheel than before. It seemed to her that Cloud thought of her as a friend, and nothing more. She tried so hard to drop subtle hints that she _wanted_ to be more, but Aeris was so much better at that sort of thing. Aeris would smile and tease him playfully. She…she sometimes felt like simply going over to Cloud and slapping him hard in the face.

Just then, a hard knocking sounded on the door.

"Tifa! You in there?!" It sounded like Cid.

She opened the door a crack, wishing she was wearing something other than her nightgown.

"Cid? What's wrong?"

"You better get out here quick!" He yelled. "Ship's on fire!"

She nodded once. "Okay. I'll be right there." She shut the door, then quickly dressed. She knew it was foolish to waste time changing, but she was _not_ going out there in her nightgown. She stopped to grab her leather fighting glove, then ran out.

Cid was gone. She could smell the smoke, though, and could hear a few people panicking. Why wasn't the captain telling everyone to calm down? Where was the crew in general?

"Mommy," sobbed a little girl by her feet. "Mommy, where are you?"

Tifa hesitated. But it was dangerous for a child to be here by herself. She felt a wave of anger toward whoever had left this child all alone. She knelt and took her hand.

"I'm Tifa," she said kindly. "We'll find Mommy. What's your name?"

"A…Adine," the girl sniffed.

"Okay, Adine," Tifa coaxed. "Just come with me and we'll find Mommy." She led the child through the people toward the deck, where the captain should be. Tifa figured he must have some sort of loudspeaker system.

She entered the captain's quarters, then gasped in horror.

The captain was on the floor, covered in blood. A man wearing a black suit stood over him. Behind him were men with guns.

"He won't be a problem now," the man said calmly into a radio. "The _Midgar Zolom_ should be here soon. Everything's going as planned."

He looked up and saw Tifa. She was thrown by his glinting sea-green eyes. She didn't know what to do.

"Well…visitors," the man said calmly. "Nice of you to drop by. I'm sorry I don't have time to play with you." He walked toward them. Tifa didn't move, but stood there with a disgusted look on her face.

The man, however, simply brushed by them, ordering over his shoulder, "Kill them. We need no witnesses."

Instantly four guns were aimed at her. Tifa threw herself and Adine out the door, shielding the child with her body. With bullets whizzing after them, she rolled onto the deck.

Quickly she picked up the girl and raced around the back of the cabin.

"You stay here," she whispered quickly. "Do not move. Got it?"

Adine nodded. Tifa stood, then edged around the corner of the cabin.

One of the guys was _right there._

She kicked the gun out of his hands, then hit him twice in the face. She knocked his feet out from under him and kicked him hard in the stomach. He didn't have a chance against a martial arts expert.

Unfortunately, all this had made a lot of noise. The other gunmen hurried over.

She was surrounded.

Suddenly, a figure dropped from above to land silently behind the men. With a few brutal slashes they were down.

"Cloud!" Tifa cried in joy.

He smiled at her. "Cid got me. I hurried here when I heard shots."

"You came just in time." She stepped over the bodies to the shadow behind the captain's quarters. "Adine? Everything's all right now."

The little girl ran to her, crying. "I'm scared," she wailed. Tifa soothed her.

"Sh, it's okay. We'll get you somewhere safe."

"There they are! Get them!"

"Uh-oh," Tifa whispered.

At least ten men armed with guns were climbing onto the deck. Tifa and Cloud backed away.

"Cloud! What do we do? There's too many of them!" Tifa cried.

"Tifa! Look at this!" Cloud turned a wheel. A hatch in the floor slid open. "Hurry!"

Helping Adine, Tifa carefully climbed down. Cloud followed her, then pressed a button to shut the hatch.

******

Aeris woke some time later, wondering where she was. It was dark, and a little cold. And her clothes were soaked. She wondered what had waked her.

The waves lapping at her feet brought it back. With a resigned sigh, she sat up and looked over at Reno. 

His chest wasn't moving.

How could he not be breathing? He had been when she fell asleep, hadn't he?

Aeris felt a moment of intense fear. Reno would die and leave her here all alone! She wouldn't be able to find a way out herself! 

Then she pulled herself together and crawled over to him. She touched his hand. Yes, it was still warm. But he wasn't breathing.

She remembered what Cloud had done for that girl back in Junon one time. But she didn't know how to do CPR.

Still, it had looked fairly easy. Get some air, and force it into the other person.

She took a breath a put her mouth over Reno's.

Suddenly, his arms came up behind her and held her there. She couldn't escape! 

His lips pressed against hers until, horrified, she managed to tear herself away. She sat gasping a minute before Reno sat up and grinned at her. Instantly she slapped him.

"_How dare you!_" 

He rubbed his cheek, but couldn't suppress that grin. She glared at him.

"It is _not_ funny."

He still looked as though he was trying hard not to laugh.

She threw up her hands, exasperated. "I should've let you drown!"

He only smirked as a response.

She stood, brushing the sand off her clothes. "And just think- I'm trapped on an island with you!"

"I know," he replied, unable to stop the huge grin from spreading over his face. "Like a dream come true, isn't it?"

"You are _impossible_!" she yelled. She turned and stalked away.

She heard his laughter behind her, but chose to ignore it.

Chapter 4

Earlier that evening, Elena sat at the bar, watching Reno yuk it up with Rude. 

__

Those two, she thought. _Don't they ever get worried?_

She was. Though Reno seemed pretty laid-back about this whole thing, (and God knows he was laid-back about everything) she couldn't erase a feeling of foreboding. 

At last she stood, abruptly enough that Reno and Rude looked at her.

"I'm going to go take a shower," she told them. "Then go to bed. Good-night."

Without another word, she left the bar.

Elena didn't often take showers in the evening, but sometimes the warm water did wonders to relax her body. And right now she needed to relax. She had been lucky enough to get a room with a private bath, and she fully intended to use it.

She stripped and stepped into the shower. She closed her eyes, thinking.

The Turks hadn't disbanded, but they weren't together anymore, either. There wasn't any of the sharp discipline, the "togetherness" feeling. She recalled how proud she had been that day when she first put on her new blue uniform. She had had that feeling, the feeling that she _belonged_.

Reno and Rude had accepted her, although both seemed wary at first. Especially Reno. She had been promoted to the Turks because he had been injured, and he had felt his reputation was in jeopardy. But she had fought her way in, and now Reno and Rude treated her as an equal.

She soon found, though, that "being a Turk ain't all it's cracked up to be," to say it in Reno's words. There had been a lot of backstabbing, a lot of murder and blackmail. She had tried to keep her mouth shut and do as she was told, but she was an emotional person, and emotions often got in the way.

Oh, well. She shook her head and opened her eyes.

A man stood beside her in the shower. He was dressed all in black, and had a knife.

She screamed in surprise. Instantly the man shoved her against the wall, then brutally twisted her head around to get her in a headlock. She was trapped.

"Get away from me, you…you PERVERT!" she screeched. Ignoring her, the man dragged her out of the bathroom, into her room. She repeatedly tried to hit and kick him, but to no avail. His position was so much stronger.

Wondering if he intended to rape her, Elena bit his wrist. He swore but held on. A knife pressed very close to her cheek.

"Took you long enough, Simms," a voice ordered. 

A man in a black suit stood there, smirking. He had chestnut brown hair and sunglasses.

He had a gun.

Seeing him, Elena stopped struggling and stood very still. Much as she hated it, two armed men against a weaponless woman were not very good odds.

The man with the gun looked her up and down, a very smug look on his face. Elena seethed. She had seen that kind of look before. And it had never taken her long to wipe it off any man's face.

"What do you think you're looking at?!" She snapped. The smirk grew wider. She longed to cuff him upside the head.

He stepped close to her. "Where are your fellow Turks?" he said softly. Elena hesitated.

The knife pressed deeper into her cheek. 

"Tell him," Simms growled.

"Um…um…" She collected her thoughts. She couldn't tell him the truth. "Uh, they're pool players, so they're probably in the…the common room," she gasped. 

A scowl darkened the man's face. Quickly he slapped her across the face, then kicked her in the stomach. She fell to her knees, winded.

"Don't lie to me, girl!" he yelled. "I torched the common room a short time ago. Where are the other Turks?!"

She was scared. They were going to kill her. She was alone and unarmed, and they would kill her.

He advanced on her again. 

"The bar!" It slipped out before she could think. "I…I mean…" Oh, God. She had told him. She had told him the location of her best friends, and he would kill them.

The man smiled coldly. "Good." He pinched her cheek. "That's what I love about women. They're so weak-willed. Especially when they don't have any clothes on."

She was afraid for herself and for her friends. 

She was mad. 

She tried to bite him, but he turned and walked out, ordering icily, "Kill her."

Now it was one unarmed woman against one armed man. She thought just the fact that she was a woman balanced it out.

Much better odds.

Twisting away, she uppercutted him in the chin, then ran to the other side of the room. Picking up a large, heavy cemeric vase, she hurled it at Simms.

"Take THAT, pervert!"

Meanwhile, Rude had left the bar. As he walked down the deck to the passenger swedes, he saw Reno talking to Aeris and shook his head.

__

That guy just does not_ give up,_ he thought.

Suddenly he heard a commotion from Elena's room. It sounded like breaking glass.

"Take THAT, pervert!"

He hurried over.

"Come near me again and- oh no you DON'T! Stay away!"

He tried to open the door but found it was locked. He heard a scream from Elena from inside.

Steeling himself, he put his whole shoulder into it and broke open the door.

Elena stood there, bare-naked. She was struggling wildly with a man with a knife. Seeing Rude, she gasped and tried to cover herself with her hands.

Rude was tempted to be a gentleman and turn away, but he didn't have time. Pulling his gun from its holster, he fired two consecutive shots. 

The man dropped, dead.

Now that the danger was gone, Elena shrieked and dove to her bed, covering herself with blankets. "Can't a woman shower in peace, dammit?!"

"Sorry," he muttered. "I _did_ save your life, you know."

"Turn around while I dress," she ordered. "And STAY like that until I say so."

Obediently he turned around, fiddling with his gun in embarrassment. Looking suspicious, Elena climbed out of bed and pulled on some clothes. She was wary, though not as wary as she would have been if it had been Reno. God, she had thought she had met the worst of perverts when she met him. Unfortunately, she had been wrong. She still had nightmares about Don Corneo.

"Okay. You can turn around now," she said at last.

He turned to face her. She was dressed in the dark blue uniform they had worn as Turks.

"You're wearing the uniform?" Rude asked in surprise. Reno still wore the uniform, because he was "proud of being a Turk and wanted the whole damn world to know it." But Rude and Elena usually dressed in civilian clothes nowadays.

"Yes," she said, putting a gun in the jacket holster. "If somebody wants to kill us, they'd better know they're dealing with the Turks."

He nodded. "What happened?"

"This jerk here attacked me in the shower!" she snarled, gesturing to the body on the floor. "Then another jerk questioned me on where to find you two. I'm sorry, he had a knife and I was scared." Her face was full of remorse. "I told him you guys were at the bar. I'm glad you're okay. Where's Reno?"

He shook his head. "Not here. Last I saw him he was on the deck."

She smiled coldly. "I hope that bastard knows he's dealing with the Turks! We'll whoop his butt!"

"Right." Rude opened the door and stepped out. "Careful," he warned. "There could be more."

Quietly they snuck down the hall.

Elena sniffed the air. "Rude, do you smell…?"

"Yeah. Smoke. They must've lit a fire."

She grabbed him, eyes wide. "Rude, they're insane! This is a ship! If they light it on fire…"

His face was expressionless. "Let's just concentrate on finding Reno."

Easier said than done. The smoke was thicker away from the passenger cabins, and more people were noticing the fire. There were screams.

Elena hoped they were just screams of panic. She had no idea how many of the terrorists were aboard. 

They ran to the deck of the ship. But Reno and Aeris weren't there.

"I thought you said he was here!" Elena cried. Rude shook his head.

"I don't know where he is now," he said. "Come on."

Suddenly they heard a new scream. But this one sounded different from the others. It was much closer, and had a metallic ring to it.

"Rude!" She whispered, stopping him. "Did you hear that?!"

He nodded. "That was Tifa!"

"What's wrong with her?"

"She sounded like she was in trouble." Rude looked around for a trapdoor or something. "And below us."

"Here!" Elena called. "A hatch."

She turned the wheel and opened it up. 

"Come on!" Rude slipped down into the hatch. Elena followed.

Down in the hatch, it was dark. Rude banged his head on the low ceiling.

"Tifa?" he called hesitantly. Then he heard Cloud's voice.

"Is that you, Rude?"

"Yeah. What happened?" Rude made his way toward them.

"Oh." Cloud sounded embarrassed. "Tifa tripped and sprained her ankle."

"And now I can hardly walk!" she sputtered angrily.

"Are you okay, Tifa?" a child's voice asked.

"I'm fine." As Rude's eyes adjusted to the lack of light, he could discern her climbing to her feet. "How'd you get down here, Rude?"

"I'm here, too," Elena said, sounding annoyed. "We got in through that hatch up there."

"What hatch?"

"That-" Elena went back and tried to open it, but to no avail. She slammed it in frustration. "Argh! It won't open!"

"Here." Cloud came over and tried. "Ugh…it won't budge."

"We're trapped down here?" Rude asked.

"We can't be!" Elena fretted. "The ship's on fire!"

"It'll be all right," Cloud assured her. "I'm sure we can find a way out." He looked at her, then at the little girl.

Elena understood. "Yeah!" she said fakely. "It'll be an…adventure."

******

Nanaki bounded up the steps to the deck. Smoke was heavy in the air. As he was low to the ground, he was a little better off than the others, but not much.

"Please, do not panic," a voice said over the intercom. "The rescue ship _Midgar Zolom _should be here soon. In the meantime, everyone put on your life jackets and keep well away from the flames."

"How the hell'd this happen?" Barret asked him.

Nanaki shook his head. Cid lumbered up behind them.

"I don't know how the hell this happened, but I'll tell you one thing: Somethin' funny's goin' on here. A guy came up to me while I was shootin' pool an' knocked me out. When I woke up, the ship was on fire. Doesn't take a genius to put two an' two together."

"Maybe your cigarette fell out of your mouth," Yuffie suggested. Cid glared at her.

"Say what you want, brat, but you'll thank me for forewarning your doom when it comes," he stated monotonously, taking a puff on his cigarette. "An' where's your life jacket?"

Her face fell. "I couldn't find one in my room. I guess if it comes to swimming, I'm dead."

"Here." A young man stepped up to her. "You can take mine."

She studied his face. He had short brown hair, with bangs that fell into his eyes, which were stormy blue and for some reason seemed very familiar…

Realizing she had been staring a second too long, she quickly said, "Thanks! Uh, thanks a lot."

He smiled, a little sadly, she thought. "Don't mention it." He walked away, disappearing among the people. She watched him until Barret's shouts told her the _Midgar Zolom_ had arrived.

There was nearly a stampede to get on the ship. They were among the last to climb aboard. When it was their turn a crew member said, "Excuse me, but by any chance are you AVALANCHE?"

"That's us!" Yuffie said brightly. Barret scowled. Not everyone needed to know who they were. 

"Where are the rest of you?" 

Yuffie glanced at Cid for help. Surely if the crew member had recognized them, they would recognize Cloud?

"You mean Cloud and them didn't come aboard?" Cid asked, frowning.

The crew member shook his head. "No, sir."

"Do you think something happened to them?" Nanaki asked Cid quietly. 

"They can take care of themselves," Cid answered "At any rate there's not a lot we can do about it." He turned to the crewman. "Where do we go?"

The crewman bowed. "Right this way, sir!" He led them into an empty cabin, and left, saying the captain would be with them shortly.

Barret sat down on the couch. Its springs creaked under his weight. "Does this mean Tifa and the others are still on the ship?" he asked. Cid shook his head.

"I'm sure they're fine. I thought that guy was kind of an idiot, anyway. He probably missed them."

"I hope so," Nanaki murmured.

Yuffie yawned and sat on the couch beside Barret. "Well, I'm just glad we didn't have to do any swimming." She yawned again. "Kinda warm here, isn't it?" Her fingers struggled to remove the clasp on her life jacket, but before she could she fell on her side, asleep. 

"Must've been real tired," Barret commented. "I think I'll take a breather here myself." He stretched and closed his eyes.

Cid tried to take a step forward but tripped over Nanaki, who was sprawled on the floor, lifeless. He was going to push himself up but then found he didn't want to. He was so comfortable right here on the floor.

"The hell's goin' on?" he muttered before fading into blackness.

Chapter 5

Aeris sat on the rocks, looking wistfully out at the water. She would have liked nothing better then to take off her wet clothes and go swimming. But she knew ocean water wouldn't make her any more comfortable.

And she wouldn't take off her clothes within one hundred miles of Reno, let alone on the same island. Not unless there was a good, solid wall between them.

"And even then he's probably find a way to drill a hole through it," she muttered.

"Drill a hole through what?"

Startled, she turned around. Reno stood there. 

"Why must you always sneak up on people like that?!" she snapped. He looked surprised. Then he grinned.

"Still angry, huh?"

"You bet I am," she spat. "Why'd you have to go and do…_that_?!"

He shrugged. "Who knows, it's my natural reaction for a women that close to me. Seemed like a good idea at the time, at least."

She scowled and stood up. "I'm checking around, make sure this is really an island. It'd be stupid if I stayed here with you without even knowing if there's a way out."

__

She's really mad, Reno realized. "Wait. I'm coming, too."

She sighed. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe I don't _want_ your company?"

"Too bad, you're getting it. When someone's trying to kill you, there's nobody better to have around than a Turk. Plus, if you get hurt, who's gonna help you?"

She pursed her lips in annoyance, but couldn't argue with his logic. Without another word she began walking along the beach. He fell into step beside her.

"Kinda ironic," he said at length. "Bet you would rather be stuck on this island with anyone but me. The irony gods must love us, huh?"

Her perpetual silence bothered him. He went on.

"Now, if it was you and Tifa, I'm sure you would have food and water by now. You'd at least know if this were an island. If it was you and Cloud…hell, he'd probably have drowned. A dork if I ever saw one."

He looked at her to see her reaction, but she didn't speak. Instead she was staring into space with an incredibly sad look on her face.

He sighed. "All right. What'd I say this time?"

"Cloud," Aeris whispered. She blinked back tears and rubbed her eyes hard with one hand. She would _not_ cry in front of Reno, of all people!

He scrutinized her intently. "What, you think something happened?"

"I don't know." She wished he would look away! "That's why I'm so worried."

He shrugged. "If you think he got shot in the head, he's fine. Ol' Spike's got a skull think enough to drive a nail through."

"You just shut up!" She cried. "Maybe you're not worried about the others, but I am! There were bad people on that ship, you know that!"

"Yeah, I do," he said calmly. "I'm just not worried."

"Why not? Don't you even care if Rude and Elena are alive or not?"

"Of course I care. But worrying won't help you. All it does is get you upset and mess up your thinking."

She stared at him. "You're not very emotional, are you?"

He flipped his hair behind his shoulder. It was starting to dry out a little. "No. Emotions only get in the way." 

She continued walking, pondering this, then shook her head. "I don't believe that."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Emotions don't get in the way," she insisted. "If they did, why would people have them?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "They're a weakness. For example, say you have to shoot this guy. Now, if you're an emotional person, you'll find yourself thinking about your victim. You'll wonder what kind of life he has. Whether he has a family. And when the time comes, you'll find you don't want to shoot him. But you've got to. Your chances of missing your target go way up."

"Not everyone's an assassin," she reminded him.

"Okay, well, it doesn't have to be that complicated. Say a friend gets hurt in battle, and you take a minute to see if they're all right. Boom, you're dead."

She paused to pick up a rock and throw it in the water. "What about good situations?" she asked. "If you cut off your emotions, you can't love. You can't feel happiness."

"You also can't feel pain," he replied. "That's a good enough exchange for me."

She stopped to take a long look at him. "It's impossible to ignore your emotions," she said firmly. "You may try, but you can't. Because I've _seen_ flashes of feeling in you, Reno. You try to hide it, but it comes out. You can still feel happiness. You can feel anger. And pain, too," she added. "Whether you like it or not."

They walked in silence after that. All Reno did was toss his head, laugh a little, and move on. It was hard to argue with a girl who talked like that.

The sad part was it was true. There were times when he couldn't keep his feelings bottled up anymore. It infuriated him, because he felt out of control. Still, in some ways it was nice to vent emotion.

But it some ways it scared him.

He felt even more like a slacker than before. Just because the Turks had gone to pieces, so had he. He had always prided himself to stay cool, like Tseng. Now it seemed like he was falling apart.

He glanced at Aeris walking beside him and almost laughed. On the outside, she was such a delicate, fragile thing. 

He realized now she was a lot shrewder than she looked.

******

Tifa, Cloud, Elena, Adine and Rude trudged through the dark bowels of the ship, Adine holding tightly to Tifa's hand. Tifa moved closer to Cloud and spoke in a low voice so as not to alarm the little girl.

"Cloud…what if the ship sinks before we get out of here?"

He shrugged. "I guess we'll worry about that if it happens. We can't do a lot now."

She bit her lip. "I hope the others are okay."

He looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Cloud, it's like a conspiracy! First the ship catches fire, then those guys with guns? They come after us, then Rude and Elena? Isn't that a bit too much of a coincidence?"

He frowned. "You're saying someone's after us?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"But…who?"

Tifa shook her head. "I don't know. But that's my gut feeling."

Cloud didn't reply, but she knew he was thinking about what she had said. Noticing Adine was shivering, she picked her up.

"Don't worry, Adine," she said kindly. "We'll get out of here."

She felt foolish, telling a child not to worry when she was more worried than she had ever been in her life! But Adine looked as though she needed to hear it.

They reached a point where the path split in two. Tifa bit her lip in annoyance. She knew they would have no idea where to go.

"I suppose it's pointless to ask if anyone has any idea which way?" Elena asked dryly.

No one answered her. Cloud shrugged.

"I guess-"

Suddenly he heard a noise. He whirled around. "Who's there?!"

"Cloud?" Tifa asked tentatively. "What's wrong?"

"I repeat," he said tersely. "Who's there?"

Tifa gave an involuntary gasp when a figure, dressed all in black, stepped out from the shadows. A cloak hid his face from view. 

Elena crossed her arms sharply over her chest. "Who are _you_ supposed to be?" she asked tartly.

"A friend," the figure said softly. 

"How do we know if you're a friend if we can't see your face?!" Cloud demanded.

The figure looked at him. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that now. Just trust me. I'm a friend."

"What do you want?" Tifa asked.

"I'll tell you which way to go. Take a left, then continue on for about two hundred yards. There you will come to a ladder. Take it down, and you will come to another cross section. Again go left. When you see a metal door, open it. You will find a way out there."

The voice was low, with a guttural undertone, almost like a growl, to it. Tifa felt sure it was a man. "How do we know this is true?"

"You don't," the man said simply. "You can trust me, like I suggested, or you can stumble around blindly in the bottom of this ship. It's your decision." He melted back into the shadows. 

"Wait!" Tifa cried, but he was gone. She looked at Cloud. "Now what?"

He sighed heavily. "I don't know."

"I think he was telling the truth," Tifa said just as Elena cried, "I think it's a trick!"  
Tifa looked at her curiously. "Why do you think that?"

"Why do _you_ think he was telling the truth?" Elena shot back.

Tifa shrugged. "I don't know. Something just struck me about him. He seemed pretty sincere."

"Tifa's a pretty good judge of character," Cloud offered.

Elena scowled. "So am I. _Right_, Rude?"

Rude shook his head. "I'm staying out of this."

Her scowl deepened. "Do you _always_ stand by and let the others make the decisions?" she said cuttingly.

Rude narrowed his eyes, but stayed calm. "No. I'm just not going to get involved in a silly little spat."

"A silly little spat?!" Elena shrieked. "Rude, this is a matter of life and death! If I'm right- and I think I am- then we could walk right into sixty guns!"

"But if you're wrong," Tifa argued, "then we could be stuck down here forever!"

"Let's take a vote," Cloud interrupted. 

"Okay," Elena said. "I vote we go right. I think it's a trap."  
"I vote we go left," Tifa said coolly. "Adine is my responsibility, and I want to get her out of here."

"I agree," Cloud said. "Rude?"

He and Tifa looked at Rude. Then Elena looked at him. 

Rude cleared his throat nervously, stalling.

"Well, Rude?" Elena said impatiently. This could still go her way. If it were a tie vote, they'd probably split up.

Rude steeled himself. "Fine, Elena. I'll make a decision. And that is…I think you're wrong. I say we trust that guy, whoever he was, and head left."

Elena looked about to explode, but Cloud quickly cut in.

"Right. Well then, I guess we're following his advice. Let's go."

He, Tifa, and Adine started down the left path. Rude hesitated, then followed.

Tifa looked back. "You coming, Elena?"

Elena glowered. "…Yeah, I guess." Putting her anger aside, she followed them down the path. 

Eventually they came to a path, just like the man had said. Cloud and Tifa glanced at each other. This was a good sign. 

They descended down the ladder. A short while later they came to a place where the path split once again. Cloud, Tifa and Adine, and Rude were already walking down the left turn when they realized Elena wasn't with them.

"Elena?" Cloud said, turning back. "What are you doing? We're almost there."

She glared at him. "I'm not going with you guys to get myself killed! I'm going my own way!"

"Elena, that's not wise-" Rude began.

"You shut up! I've had it up to _here _with your 'Let's do what everyone else thinks' attitude! If Reno were here at least he'd agree with me! You just go along with Cloud and _Tifa_!"

With that, she ran down the path to the right. Cloud, Tifa, and Rude stood in embarrassment.

A second later, they heard Elena scream. They took one look at each other and rushed down the right turn.

Elena was trembling, flat on her back. A man stood above her, with a gun pointed at her forehead. Other men stood around her.

Rude didn't even hesitate. Racing up behind the man nearest Elena, he got him in a headlock and squeezed. Within seconds his neck had been broken. Rude flung the body aside contemptuously and faced the others.

Meanwhile, Cloud and rushed in, swinging his sword right and left. Tifa followed suit, with a hurried "Stay here!" to Adine. 

Minutes later, bodies were scattered everywhere. The man had been taken by surprise. They hadn't expected an attack, let alone one with such good fighters.

Elena climbed shakily to her feet. She looked at them all, then said a rueful, "Thanks. A lot."

Rude gave one of his rare smiles. "At least now we know the guy was telling the truth."

"I'm not so sure," she said thoughtfully. "Maybe he expected me to change my mind last minute."

He shook his head. "Suspicious to the end, Elena."

They walked back to the crossway. This time they took the left path.

When they reached the metal door, it took all of them (excepting Adine) to pull it open. Inside was a stairway. With Cloud in the lead, they climbed it.

It led to a small room. It appeared empty, until Rude picked up a small square package. "What's this?"

Tifa took it from him and examined it carefully. "It looks like…" Spying a string, she pulled it. Immediately the room was filled with a rubber life raft. "A lifeboat!" 

Cloud ran his hands over the wall. "Then there must be…" He found a button and pressed it. Instantly part of the wall slid into itself to reveal an opening. He turned to grin at the others. "Get in."

They clambered in and Cloud pushed the boat through the hatch. It dropped a few feet to land in the water. Cloud grabbed two oars and stepped in himself.

Outside they could easily smell smoke, but the worst of it was above them. Flames cast a flickering light on their faces.

Elena gasped. Somehow, the knowledge that the ship was on fire was not the same as seeing it. She felt a pang of shame on realizing she had hardly given Reno a thought (except to insist he would be on her side) since descending into the bottom of the ship. She glanced at Rude and saw he was thinking the same thing.

"Think he's okay?" she said quietly.

"He's fine," Rude assured her. "You know Reno: He can get out of any situation."

"Yeah, I guess," she said doubtfully. "But, just between you and me…I'm worried."

He nodded. "It's all right. I guess I am, too."

Cloud handed him an oar. Rude was about to start rowing when Tifa stopped him.

"I'd like to row, if you don't mind."

"Why?"

"Please," she said, almost pleadingly. "I've got so much pent-up energy, I can't sit still. I've got to _do_ something."

He shrugged. "All right. Let me know if you get tired."

"I won't," she replied.

They started moving away from the ship. Adine curled up beside Tifa, and was soon fast asleep. Soon Rude and Elena looked like they had dropped off, too.

Cloud looked up at the sky. "It's almost dawn."

Tifa didn't answer, but rubbed her eyes tiredly. She hoped they'd find land before too long.


	3. Default Chapter Title

Chapter 6

Aeris sat once again on the rocks, looking up at the moon. 

"What are you doing out this late?"

She sighed. "You just seem to revel in creeping up on me, don't you?"

He shrugged. "Hey, it's a friggin' island. Not a lot to do." He sat down beside her. "What are you thinking about?"

She flexed her fingers out in front of her. "Lots of things. Mostly how hungry I am right now."

He grinned. "Plenty of berries left."

She groaned. "I'm sick of berries."

He studied her carefully. The smile was gone now. "Okay. What are you _really_ thinking about?"

"What's it to you?" she said, annoyed.

"Would you rather hear what's going on in my mind?"

She smiled. "No way." She considered telling him to shove it, but suddenly everything became too much. She was used to expressing her feelings, and keeping them inside had become more than she could bear.

"It's like this…" she said slowly. "I've thought about what you said about wanting to numb your feelings, and right now I think I understand."

"Woah…" he said. "You actually thought about something I said? _I_ said?"

She ignored him. "I understand because I feel awful right now." She looked at him, almost tearfully. "We came on this trip based entirely on my impulses. In the slums, we were attacked. I thought it was just one of those random things that happen in that part of the city, but now I don't think so. Next, the ship catches fire. Then, you and I are again attacked. And I have a bad feeling about the others." She sighed. "I feel like a plague."

"I think it's more likely someone's trying to kill you," he said reasonably. 

She looked at the ground. "…maybe. But I can't stop thinking about Mom and Reeve. They were killed trying to revive me. It's just…" She wiped a suddenly teary eye. "If it wasn't for me, they'd still be alive."

He startled her by standing, then moving around in front of her. He knelt there, so she had to look into his sea-green eyes. They were cool, and somehow distant. But his face was set, hard.

"Listen to me," he said, sounding almost angry. "It's not your fault. Reeve and your mom knew there'd be danger when they signed on for that trip. But they did it for you anyway. Know why? Because they loved you, Aeris. And saying it's all your fault, like it was an accident or something, is like throwing it all away. They made a sacrifice for _you_. And if you want that sacrifice to stay precious, you've got to concentrate on treasuring their memories, not grieving over their deaths."

She wanted to look away but couldn't. His gaze stayed locked on hers until something flashed across his face, and he looked at the ground.

"How do you know all that?" she asked, breaking the silence. "You didn't make that up spur-of-the-moment." 

He struggled internally for a moment, but he was tired. Tired of keeping everything he felt inside hidden behind a calm expression or a sardonic smirk. Tired of hiding things. Tired of pretending everything was all right.

"Some of it did just pop into my head," he said at last. "Some of it I just figured out. But some of it…I've dealt with." He shook his head. "I do know this: Bad things happen when you blame yourself for other peoples' deaths.

She watched him intently. This seemed to be the hardest thing in the world for him. 

He drew a long, shuddering breath. "You've seen a woman in your dreams sometimes. She had smooth, dark hair and…beautiful green eyes." He looked at her a moment, then dropped his gaze to the ground again. Aeris' eyes looked so much like hers it was painful.

"Who was she?" Aeris asked quietly.

"She was my wife. Her name was Heantha, and she was a Turk too. One day…it was our first anniversary, actually…she went out on a mission. She never came back."

Silence. Neither of them spoke for a long time. Aeris was wondering if perhaps she should say something when he went on. 

"It was strange. It was like when I lost her, I lost myself. I started drinking more and more. I started to enjoy the power my company gave me, too. It was almost funny, watching my victims' startled faces right before I killed them. It was around then I stopped feeling."

She looked at him sympathetically. "Reno…"

He kept going. "Sector 7 was the worst." He lifted his hands to his face. In the dark, he could almost see the blood on them. "I enjoyed it while it lasted, but…it hurt, Aeris. It hurt." He blinked back a sudden warm feeling in his eyes. He hadn't cried, _really_ broken down for what seemed like forever. He certainly wasn't about to start now. "And still does," he finished quietly.

Aeris stared. She had never imagined there to be another side to Reno. She had always thought of him as a cold, sarcastic man, but she had never thought of _why_ he was that way. 

"I'm sorry…" was all she could say.

He looked a little embarrassed at this spillage of everything he had kept inside for so long. He tried a tiny smile. "Yeah, well, remember what I said about my rep? Don't spread this around."

She nodded slowly, but her green eyes revealed she was thinking about something else. "It's strange…" she said at last.

"What is?"

"The same thing happened to me, sort of. You see, before I met Cloud, I knew a guy named Zack. He and I were very close. He was a member of SOLDIER, First Class. I met him when he had some time off. One day…he was supposed to meet me at the playground by Sector 7. When he didn't show up, I went looking for him. I never found him, but…he was reported killed. It turns out he saved Cloud's life, and died for him. It was one of the darkest periods of my life." She shook her head, remembering. "I spent nearly all of my time in the church in the slums. It almost grew to be an obsession. That was where I met Cloud, and you, as a matter of fact." She gave him a wry smile. "It's very strange."

Normally he would have made a comment about Cloud better turning around and running as far away as he could get before he got killed, too, but thought better of it. "Yeah," he agreed. "Now who would guess that you would be telling all this to the same guy that stomped on your flowers almost a year ago?" 

She smiled a little. "It's all right. I made them grow again."

__

Now what made her think that was an apology? Reno thought to himself.

She stood up. "I think I'll go to bed now. I'm very tired."

Reno glanced at the sky. It was almost dawn. Unlike Aeris, he was used to staying up all night, but he was tired too. "Yeah. Me too." 

They were starting down the slope when Aeris looked at him. "…Reno?"

"Mm?"

"Good-night." She turned to a comfortable-looking spot, then laid down. In a few seconds she was fast asleep.

__

The hell was that about? Reno wondered.

******

Aeris woke the following morning almost as wet as the night she had arrived. The grass around her was also soaked. Apparently it had rained last night.

She sat up and groaned. Every inch of her body ached. The hard swimming she had done that night had finally caught up with her.

She forced herself to her feet and looked around for Reno. 

"Dear God. He must already be up," she murmured. "I've slept _really_ late."

However, a quick glance at the sun, barely risen, proved it was still early morning.

She finally caught sight of him standing on the rocks, looking out to the sea. Yawning widely, she walked over to join him.

"What are you doing up so early?"

He glanced at her. "Couldn't sleep." He pointed out to the water. "What's that?"

She looked. "What?"

"_That._"

"_What?_"

He went around behind her and turned her head in the right direction. "_That_."

Looking carefully, she could make out a small yellow thing bobbing way out in the waves. "What is it?"

"That's what I'm asking _you_," he said, obviously irritated. 

She squinted, then shook her head. "I don't know. It's too far out." She turned back. "Come on. It's time for breakfast."

He followed her back to their makeshift campsite. It consisted of two piles of grass for pillows, and a small heap of berries on a rock.

Reno picked up a rain-soaked berry, popped it into his mouth, and winced. "I wish we totally knew if these were safe to eat."

She looked worried. "What if they're not?"

He shrugged. "Hey, we're not dead yet, right? Besides, what're we gonna do, make a spear and go hunting?"

She shuddered as she ate a few. "If we don't get off this island, eventually that's what we're going to have to do. What about your rod?"

He took it out of his jacket, used a knife to pry open a panel, and immediately dropped it. He gave a curse as a shock pricked his fingers.

Aeris knelt to look to look closely at it. Electricity crackled among the wiring. "I guess it's busted," she said. "What about your gun?"

"I think it's okay, but I don't have a lot of bullets left. I'll have to save them."

She nodded distractedly, looking past him. "Oh!" she yelped suddenly. 

He glanced behind him and jumped to his feet.

The yellow thing was much closer.

Reno ran to the rocks at a run, Aeris close behind him.

"It's a boat!" Aeris cried. "I'm positive it's a boat!"

"But why's it coming here?" he wondered.

"Maybe to rescue us?" she suggested hopefully.

He shook his head. "If someone knew where we were and sent someone to rescue us they'd send a ship, not a little dinghy like that." 

Having no other options, they sat down and watched as the boat drew closer. 

At last, Aeris thought she could distinguish people. "There are…two, three, four, five people on board," she reported. 

"Odd, how this island has suddenly become popularity central," Reno remarked. 

"Hush! They're probably survivors, like us."

She peered intently at the people. Even at this distance she could tell one of them had blond hair. Funny, how it stuck straight up, just like…

"Cloud?" she whispered. Another second and she was sure. She jumped up, waving her arms. "Cloud! Cloud!"

In the boat, Tifa looked at Clod. "Why's one of them waving their arms like that?"

"Trying to get our attention," he replied. "I wonder why…" Suddenly he stood, making the boat rock. "Tifa! I think that's Aeris!"

"What? No way!" Tifa squinted carefully at the figure. "You're right!"

"Row faster, Rude, Elena!"

Excited beyond measure, Aeris hurried down the rocks to the beach. Reno followed, more slowly. Once there, he shielded his eyes from the sun. "Yeah, I'm guessing that's Spike. Tifa, too. And-" He stopped.

"What?"

"Well, I'll be damned," he said, smiling. "That's Rude and Elena."

Elena suddenly stopped rowing to grab Rude's arm. "Rude, look!"

"At what?"

"That's _Reno_!" she cried. "He's alive!"

"Of course he's alive. I told you so."

She would have groaned in frustration, but she was too happy to care. Dropping the oar, she stood up. "Reno! Hey, Reno! It's us!"

Seeing they would get nowhere with Elena as an oarsman, Cloud sighed and took her place.

"Just like him," Elena scowled. "Doesn't even bother to wave. Doesn't he see us? RENO!"

"Elena, look out!" Tifa shrieked. 

Too late. Elena toppled over the side of the boat. While Cloud and Rude steadied it, Tifa leaned over to help her back in.

Elena, however, ignored Tifa's outstretched hand and began swimming to shore. When she reached it, she ran to Reno and threw her arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder.

"You JERK!" she said through her tears. "You…you…_stupid jerk_!"

"Jeez," he said. "I would think you'd be glad to see me."

"GLAD?! I…we didn't even know you were alive!"

"Sorry," he shrugged. "Next time I'll send a telegram that clearly states the fact that I'm alive next time. By the way, you're soaking my shirt."

She let go of him and wiped her eyes. "I hate you. I…I just hate you."

Meanwhile, Aeris couldn't take it anymore. She ran out to meet the boat. "Cloud!" He stepped out, and she ran into his arms, laughing and crying at the same time. "Oh, Cloud…"

"It's okay, Aeris." 

Rude glanced at Tifa, and was struck by the incredibly sad and wistful look on her face as she watched Aeris and Cloud. _She really loves him,_ he realized.

"Rude!" Reno called. "You an' Tifa are the only ones who aren't hugging!"

"…….."

"C'mon, Rude! Give Tifa a biiiiiig hug!"

"Lay off, Reno!" He snapped. Reno only grinned. Annoying people was his specialty.

Rude stepped out of the boat and pulled it to shore. Adine and Tifa jumped out.

Aeris suddenly looked a little sheepish at letting her emotions run away with her. She moved away from Cloud and went over to Tifa.

"I'm glad you're okay," Aeris whispered as she gave her a quick hug.

"Yeah." Tifa tried to smile. "This is Adine. Say hi to Aeris, Adine."

Adine stayed silent, looking up at Aeris with large eyes.

"I must look a mess," Aeris laughed. "What about the others? Are they coming, too?"

"You mean they aren't with you?" Tifa frowned.

Aeris shook her head. "I hope they're all right."

"Y'know, this little reunion is very touching and all," Reno interrupted, "but since we now have seven people here, and only berries to eat that are probably poisonous anyway, I suggest we get to thinking about what we're going to do for food." He grinned. "Guess it's sunk to hunting after all." 

Chapter 7

Later, Tifa and Aeris were washing by a small stream. They had just finished exchanging stories and were now idly talking. 

"Rude seems to like you," Aeris said lazily as she splashed water on her face. "I've noticed it before."

Tifa sighed, stretching her arms over her head. "I knew him once," she admitted. "And I like him as a friend. I think he's starting to realize that."

"Yes," Aeris agreed. "It's good to be able to trust the Turks, isn't it? Shame it didn't happen before the fall of Shinra. Anyway, I'm glad you guys made it out of the ship. It must have been awful."

"Yeah. But what about you? It must have been worse for you." Tifa grinned to let her know she was kidding.

"What do you mean?"

Tifa's grin grew wider. "Trapped on an island alone with Reno? I would've died."

Aeris smiled. "You don't like him much, do you?"

"Not that," Tifa shrugged. "He's just so…_Renoish._"

"Yes, I know," Aeris assented. "He can be…Renoish. But…" Again she smiled. "Sometimes he can be very…sweet."

Tifa raised an eyebrow. "You're _not_ interested in him?"

Aeris laughed. "Oh, Tifa. Really, sometimes you can be so funny."

"I'm serious!"

Aeris climbed to her feet. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm just starting to understand the guy. C'mon, let's get back to the others."

"Yeah." Tifa got up. "I left Adine with Cloud. I hope he isn't trying to entertain her or something."

As they walked back to where everyone had gathered, Adine ran, crying, into Tifa's arms. "Tifa! Cloud's dead!"

"_WHAT?!_"

Reno came up to them, looking sheepish. "Uh, us guys decided to stage a little fight. Cloud…died, and she got upset."

"Oh, _really_!" Tifa snapped. "Don't you guys know _anything_ about children?! Cloud, come over here and show her you're fine."

After Adine had calmed, Cloud looked at them in reproach. "I don't want you two going off by yourselves again, understand?"

"Why?"

"Because it's dangerous. We don't know what we're up against, and until we do, you stay with us. Reno just told me what happened to him and Aeris, so from now on we stick together."

"Oh, come on!" Aeris sniffed. "It's just because we're girls. If Reno and Rude went off alone, you'd-"

"Seriously, Cloud!" Tifa protested. "We know how to take care of ourselves."

"I know you do, but Aeris lost her staff and most of her materia on the ship. She's defenseless."

"I am _not_!"

"Never mind," Tifa interrupted. "Aeris can get another staff. Listen, did you guys do _something_ useful and at least get us something to eat?"

"Um…well, Rude shot a squirrel and some kind of bird, but I don't know if you'll want to eat-"

"I don't care," Aeris said. "I'm starving."

"Yeah, anything but berries," Tifa agreed.

After an unsatisfactory dinner of burnt meat, (Elena had managed to use a Fire materia to light small campfire) they all sat down to discuss what to do next.

"I don't think we'll be able to do anything but try to survive," Tifa shrugged. "Sooner or later someone will send out a search party."

Reno shook his head. "No one's gonna know we're here. We have to get off this island on our own."

"How?" Tifa asked. "It's not like we can just call up Cid and ask him to pick us up in the Highwind."

"No, because there are no phones, and anyway the Highwind has been destroyed," Reno answered. "But we _do_ have the boat."

"Reno, think about what you're saying!" Elena snapped. "There are seven of us. IF by some miracle we managed to _fit_ in that tiny rubber thing, we'd starve to death long before we found a place. There's no land for miles."

"I agree with Reno," Aeris said suddenly. "I want to get off this island, too. I-" She broke off, biting her tongue. "But of course it's not practical to just jump on the boat and take off," she contradicted herself. "I don't think we have a choice. All we can do is stay here and hope someone comes our way."

There was silence a moment, during which Reno shrugged.

"Obviously I'm outnumbered," he said. "From the look on your guys' faces you're not too keen on setting out anyway. BUT…if help doesn't come soon, we'll have to go." He suddenly grinned. "However, there's enough woman for each of us men. Guess that's a good thing if it turns out we _are_ stuck here."

He ducked as Elena, Aeris, and Tifa each smacked him.

"If it comes to that, I think us girls will just jump in the water," Tifa joked. "Not a lot to choose from here."

"Actually, we'll probably just push you guys in and take over the island ourselves," Elena played along.

Reno suddenly stopped laughing and looked up. "Do you guys hear…?"

"What?" Cloud asked.

Reno listened carefully. He could almost swear he heard a chopper's blades. But the sound was gone now. "Thought I heard…nah. It's nothing."

Dispite his assurance, everyone else listened a moment before a scream pierced the air.

Aeris was on her knees, clutching her head. It was she who was screaming. 

Cloud leapt forward and tried to calm her down, as did Tifa, but nothing they could do could ease her suffering. 

"What's happening?!" Elena cried.

Reno was watching the scene with slitted eyes and didn't answer.

******

Aeris was alone in a dark room. Or at least she thought she was. She couldn't tell. It was too dark to see. 

"Hello?" she whispered hesitantly. 

A soft sobbing, crying sound met her ears. Slowly Aeris moved toward it.

At last her eyes penetrated the darkness. A young woman with dark hair was crying into her hands.

"Hello?" Aeris asked. Even in the dark, Aeris could discern her bright green eyes. 

"Are you…Heantha?"

The woman nodded. Despite the fact she had stopped crying, Aeris could see the sadness and pain written all over her face. "How do you know my name?"

"I know Reno," Aeris said truthfully. Then something made her say, "Is there anything you want me to tell him? A message?"

Heantha seemed to panic. She glanced around frantically, then wrung her hands, screaming. "Tell him to stay away! Or he'll-" She broke off into dispairing sobs again.

"You! What are you doing here?!"

Aeris whirled around. It was Kralin. He was yelling, not at her, but at Heantha.

"Get out!"

Face in her hands, Heantha ran past Aeris into the darkness.

"Worthless pest," Kralin muttered. He looked at Aeris, and his face broke into a smile. It did nothing to warm his face, however. All it did was make him seem colder still, if such a thing was possible. She looked at him and a horrible feeling of dread rose in her heart. Without knowing quite why, she backed away from him.

"What's the matter?" he asked her. "Cat got your tongue?" And he began to laugh, a cold, dark laugh that evoked such terror from her she would have screamed if her voice hadn't caught in her throat.

"I've got you right where I want you," he smirked.

She found her voice. "Keep away from me! And my friends!"

His smile widened, and he pointed right at her. "Soon. Very soon."

She bolted upright. Cloud and Tifa, as well as everyone else, were gathered around her. She was breathing hard, gasping, but she was in control.

"Are you okay?" Cloud asked her.

She didn't answer, just looked around for Reno. Where was he?

"Reno?" she asked.

Sounding puzzled, Cloud said, "He's right there. Behind you."

Turning, she saw hm staring right at her, as though scrutinizing her. His narrowed eyes showed he was trying to figure her out.

Locking her eyes on his, she nodded slowly. His eyes widened slightly, and he seemed to want to ask her something, but not in front of everyone else.

Looking more than a trifle perplexed, Cloud repeated, "Aeris, are you okay?"

"Um…I think so…" she muttered. She stood up. "I, I'm going for a walk. I need to clear my head. Alone," she added as Cloud opened his mouth. "I'll only be a minute."

There was silence after she had gone. Then Reno stood.

"I'm going to go have a smoke." He left.

"I thought all his were ruined from the water," Rude said, perplexed.

"You think there's something those two aren't telling us?" Elena asked.

******

Reno found Aeris some distance away, sitting by the beach. She didn't look up when he approached. 

"You saw her again, didn't you?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"What happened?" he asked, almost pleadingly.

She told him everything. When she had finished, he was silent for almost a minute. At last he spoke. 

"If you see her again, tell her I'm sorry. About everything." He looked away so she wouldn't see him biting his lip. 

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Reno. You're upset, aren't you?"

He didn't answer.

"You're not a Turk anymore," Aeris urged. "You don't have to hide everything. If you're upset, let it out."

She was wrong. He was a Turk, and would always be a Turk. He shook off her hand. "Leave me alone."

"Reno…"

He climbed to his feet. "I don't need you, or anyone else, trying to help me. There are things I have to handle by myself."

"People need people," she insisted. "You're not alone, Reno."

Ignoring her, he walked away. She watched him go through sad eyes.

"What was all that about?"

Aeris jumped, then looked around behind her. "Tifa!"

Tifa had her arms crossed over her chest. A suspicious expression had hardened her face.

"You were spying on us?" Aeris said, looking a little angry.

Tifa sighed, then came and sat down beside her. "I wasn't eavesdropping, but yes, I watched you. Come on. What was that about?"

Aeris bit her lip. "I'm sorry. I can't tell you."

"Why not?" Tifa said, looking hurt.

"I promised him I wouldn't tell anyone. It's personal."

"I thought we could tell each other everything."

"Tifa, look. It's not about you, or me, or anyone else here. He's already embarrassed enough that I know something about his past." She sighed. "He seems to think he has to handle everything himself." 

Tifa looked at her a long moment. "Are you sure you can't tell me?"

"Yes, Tifa." Aeris suddenly raised an eyebrow. "Why are you smiling?"

Tifa stifled a giggle. "I just think it's…cute…the way you two have gotten to know each other. But I guess that would happen when you're alone on an island."

Aeris flushed. "That's not funny! Seriously, Tifa, we're just friends."

Tifa stood, that smile still on her face. "Whatever you say. C'mon, let's get back. The others are worried about you."

******

The helicopter thudded to a stop on the other side of the island. It hovered a moment above the sandy shore, then descended. Before the blades had even stopped whirring, a man climbed out. He tapped the speaker once on the radio in his hand, then spoke into it.

"This is Z-28, reporting in. Over."

"It's about time." Kralin's voice came crackling over the line. "What's your status?"

"Just touched down on the island. Do you want my report? Over."

"Don't give me the 'over' shit," Kralin sneered in cold sarcasm. "Just give me your report."

"Everything's under control. We're pretty sure they don't know we're here. Everything's ready, we can begin at any time. I already told the Squad B team to get moving. They should be here any minute. Other than that, we await your orders."

"Don't do anything yet. Attack at dusk."

"Why dusk?" The man asked, running a hand through his spiky black hair. 

"It's not your place to question orders. But just to humor your stupidity, dawn or dusk is always the best time for an attack. Not quite dark, not quite light. It's difficult for the enemy to see. Especially when you have the jump on them."

"I see…" the man muttered. "Very well then. When Squad B arrives, we'll wait until dusk, then attack."

"Very good," Kralin said snidely. "That will be all. Oh, and by the way…"

"Yes?"

"You'd better pull this off. Or it will be your head."

"Yeah, got it. Over and out."

The man clicked off the radio with an air of annoyance. His leader knew his stuff all right, but he was a real cold bastard. He put his radio away and straightened his black suit. The Squad B team would be arriving by sub. They were trained men, but not quite good enough to match his rank.

He hoped he could pull this off.

Chapter 8

It was a rather subdued group that gathered that evening. Both Aeris and Reno were oddly silent, and Tifa was locked deep in thought.

"Aeris? You okay?" Cloud asked.

She wished he would stop asking her that! She actually wasn't, she felt sick and stressed and awful. What she really wanted to do was go sit among her flower garden in Midgar and have a good cry. But of course that wasn't an option.

"I'm fine, Cloud. Really, I am."

"Are you sure?" He looked skeptical. "You seem edgy."

"Yes, I'm sure!" She snapped. "I am perfectly, 100 percent, A-okay! So please, just get off my case!"

__

That just proves she's not, Tifa thought. _She's obviously worried about something._

Cloud seemed to be thinking the same thing. "Well, if you're going to be touchy about it, I won't ask again. I was just concerned, that's all."

Aeris rubbed her eyes tiredly. The truth was, there had been a nagging feeling in the back of her mind ever since they had landed on the island. And now it seemed much stronger. Bus she stubbornly refused to tell the others, knowing they would take her seriously. She didn't want to worry them for what was probably nothing.

Still, it wasn't right to take it out on Cloud.

"I'm sorry, Cloud," she sighed. "I just…I want to go home."

Reno ran a hand through his hair in disgust. _That's what happens when you get emotionally attached to something,_ he thought. _Be it a place, object, or person. They get yanked away, and you're left with nothing but sorrow._

He would never, ever let that happen to him again. Once was enough. More than enough.

Only a hundred or so feet away, hidden among the trees, one of many gunmen waited. At last, the voice crackled over the radio.

"Are you ready?"

The gunman tapped the speaker once to signify "yes".

"Good. Just don't hurt the girl. We want them to know she's alive when she leaves them. Other than her, kill anyone you like. Except for the failed clone, of course." 

"Which one is he?" The gunman's voice was barely audible.

"The spiky-headed one. We need him alive. Don't kill him, and let the girl get by you."

Again the speaker was tapped.

"Okay. Attack." 

Immediately the gunman signaled to the others. They leapt out of the trees, firing wildly. 

Reno reacted instantly, as did Rude and Elena. Their Turk training had prepared them for times such as these.

"Quick! Behind the dunes!" Reno yelled, yanking out his gun.

"But what-" Aeris started, but he cut her short.

"Move, move, MOVE! Now!"

Elena grabbed the bewildered Aeris and pulled her behind a sand dune. Cloud quickly joined them, as well as Tifa, holding tightly to Adine. Reno and Rude were last. They had been covering the retreat.

"We'll have to fight back," Cloud said, speaking fast. "All of us have got weapons. Except you, Aeris. You take Adine and get out of here. We'll cover you."

"No way!" She protested vehemently. "I'm not running away!"

"You have to!" he said tersely. "We need to get Adine somewhere safe, and since you can't fight anyway, it makes the most sense for you to go. Don't argue, we don't have time. Just take her and go."

Aeris hesitated, then nodded. "Okay. Just be careful." 

"On the count of three, everyone. One…two…THREE!"

They jumped out from behind the dune. Aeris grabbed hold of Adine and took off along the edge of the beach. She planned to circle around behind and hide in the trees.

Strange, how they weren't firing at her. They seemed to busy trying to take care of the onslaught from Cloud and the others. 

At last she reached the trees. She glanced behind her for a last glimpse of her friends. She hoped they'd be okay.

But she was powerless to help them now. And she had a responsibility to take care of the child first. 

They raced through the trees for she didn't know how long. But by the time she grew tired of carrying Adine, she felt fairly safe and set her down.

"What's going on?" the little girl whimpered. "Where's Tifa?"

"Hush!" Aeris had heard something up ahead. She hesitated between going to check on it and keeping the child safe. At last she decided to do both.

"You stay here," she whispered. "I'm going to check and see if the way ahead is clear. If it is, I'll come back and get you. Wait for me, understand?"

Adine nodded. Cautiously Aeris stepped forward. 

Only a few feet away was a small clearing. She stopped, biting her lip. If she went into the clearing, she would lose protection of the trees. But if she stayed where she was, she'd be none the wiser.

With a sharp intake of breath, she stepped into the clearing.

Instantly she discerned a presence. She whirled around to see a man dressed in a black suit that perfectly matched his spiky black hair, brushed back from his forehead. The look enhanced his sky-blue eyes and smooth, even features. A large sword was strapped to his back.

Aeris stared at him as if struck by lightning. She took a step forward, then another.

"Zack?" she whispered.

He didn't even have to answer.

"Zack!" She cried in joy. She ran to him. Time seemed to stand still, she was so happy she could cry, she could-

Suddenly she was on her back, laying on the ground. She stared up at him in confusion. Had she tripped? Had she-?

She touched her cheek and winced. She glanced at Zack's face. His arms were crossed over his chest and he was watching her with a hard expression that did not at all suit him. 

If she didn't know better, she would have thought he had struck her. But Zack wouldn't…her Zack…

No matter. She climbed to her feet. She wiped the tears streaming down her face, and smiled sheepishly. "I'm so glad you're back."

He looked at her, and his eyes were the coldest she'd ever seen. "You won't be for long."

"What-"

"I have a new life now. One which I will follow at any cost. And I have orders."

"Zack…I don't understand," she said softly.

"I have orders to kill you."

She took a step back. "You…you wouldn't…" she stammered. "You couldn't…"

"Believe me, I can. And will. Watch."

He surprised her by striking her again, right in the face. The force knocked her to the ground.

Tears slid down her cheeks, not so much because he had hurt her, but because it was _Zack_ who was treating her like this, _Zack_ who was treating her like yesterday's trash. Her Zack, who had always treated her so tenderly. She had thought he was gone forever. But to be back alive, and like this…

"Zack…" she whispered. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because it's orders. And I have to kill you." He raised his sword. 

"No!" she shrieked, sobbing. "Please don't, Zack, please don't, oh please…"

Meanwhile, the others were fighting for their lives.

Tifa and Cloud were in front, getting up close and personal with the attackers. Reno and Rude flanked their sides, using their guns, and Elena stayed in back and cast magic spells.

Tifa grinned in self-satisfaction as she flipped a gun out of a gunman's hands while at the same time backhanding a guy attacking Cloud. They were getting the upper hand. The odds were definitely against them, but still they were winning.

On the other side of her, Reno frowned for the exact same reason. They were winning the upper hand, all right, but it seemed far too easy. If Kralin was behind this, (And Reno was pretty sure he was) then he would have a good idea of the fighting skills they possessed.

__

Then why waste our time with these morons? Reno wondered as he dodged a barrage of bullets. _It's like he's…manipulating us._

Manipulating them for what?

In his frustration his concentration slipped slightly, and a bullet grazed his elbow. Annoyed, he shot three times at his attacker, and he fell.

__

Ooh, gory, he thought. _Aeris wouldn't like that._

Aeris! It was a trap!

"It's a trick!" he yelled. "A distraction!"

"Huh?" Cloud asked, turning to him slightly.

No time for an explanation. Reno saw an opening and ran. He heard Elena shouting after him, but he ignored her.

He charged into the trees, running as fast as he could. If he was wrong, he'd cost them damage and, if they survived, would probably be screamed at by Elena and scolded by Cloud.

But if he was right…

He broke free of the trees into a small clearing. Until then he hadn't even noticed his surroundings.

He did now. He noticed a pleading, crying Aeris at the feet of a man with a sword. He was poised to kill her.

Reno didn't think. He just reacted.

One bullet, shot straight through the skull.

Zack fell, collapsing almost on top of Aeris.

"NO!" she screamed. She lifted Zack's head tenderly. His eyes were wide open, staring at nothing. He wasn't breathing.

"No…" she sobbed. She held him to her, rocking slightly back and forth. "Zack…hold on, everything will be all right. Just hold on…"

Reno went to her and gently touched her shoulder. "Aeris. He's dead."

"You get away from him, you monster!" she screamed. "You…you…I can't believe…get away!"

His eyes flashed. "I did what I had to, Aeris."

She continued sobbing as though her heart was breaking. 

"He's dead, Aeris."

"No! Stop saying that! Zack…everything will be all right again…"

Cloud burst through the trees. "Reno, what-"

He stopped dead at the scenario. "Is that…Zack?" he whispered.

Reno nodded once. Cloud glanced at him, at the dead man, the sobbing Aeris, and the gun still smoking in Reno's hand. Cloud gave him a look of understanding, then went to Aeris.

"Aeris…"

She screamed at the sight of him, and hugged Zack close again. Tifa, who had come up so quietly neither man had noticed her, placed a hand on Cloud's shoulder.

"Let me handle this."

Cloud nodded. Tifa crouched down beside Aeris and began speaking softly.

"Aeris, he's gone. Returned to the Planet. There's nothing left but his body. You can let him go now."

Reluctantly Aeris loosened her hold on him. She looked at the still face, then up at Tifa. 

"Tifa…it's awful, to have him come back after so long, and then have him yanked away again. No, not yanked. Murdered!" She buried her face in her hands.

"I had to!" Reno snapped. "He was going to kill you, Aeris, I don't care how long he was your boyfriend or whatever-"

"Reno!" Tifa interrupted angrily.

He went on. "If he was willing to throw all that away and kill you, and you were willing to die, well, guess who had to get involved? Although now I gladly would have not done it if I had known you were so _weak_-"

"Reno! Shut up!" Tifa snapped.

He shut up. Why had he gone and said those things? It was probably the worst thing he could have done.

Tifa put an arm around Aeris, who was now crying harder than ever.

"He wasn't going to do it!" she wailed. "I know he wasn't! He wouldn't!"

Reno shook his head. It was incredibly stupid, how blind love could make you.

Tifa led Aeris away. _Take care of Adine for me_, she mouthed to Cloud over her shoulder.

While Cloud took care of the child, Rude and Elena, who had finally arrived, beckoned to Reno. He joined them a few feet away.

"Don't say it, okay?!" he snapped before Rude could open his mouth. "I lost it and I know it. Looks like Reno finally went off the deep end and lost control, right? Well, that happens sometimes. Everyone loses their temper, and there's no reason why I should have to be any exception! I'm human, too! I know I'm losing my 'Turk' touch, and I'm sorry, I was wrong, you were right, just don't criticize me, okay?! I've had all I can take." 

"I wasn't going to criticize you," Rude finally said when he could get a word in edgewise.

"Oh." Reno felt around in his pocket for his shades, then remembered he had lost them. "Um, I knew that."

"Sure," Elena said sarcastically. "Reno, you really are losing your Turk touch, you know that? You used to be such a calm, cool guy. Now you lost it at Aeris and now you just lost it again, at us! And-"

"Elena. Stop. Talking," Rude said loudly. "Stop. Talking." 

Reno inspected his gun, for once at a loss for words. He waited for Rude to speak.

A firm hand clapped on his shoulder, startling him into looking up. Rude was smiling at him kindly.

"We just wanted to say," he said. "That we're here for you, Reno."

"Uh, thanks," he said, genuinely surprised.

"Well, Jeez Reno, what'd you expect?" Elena scoffed. "Whether one of us is losing it or not, we're still Turks."

"Yeah," Reno said. Something made him say, "Thanks." 

Sometimes he had to remind himself he had friends.

******

Cloud, the Turks, and Adine were sitting morbidly around the campfire that night. Reno especially was looking down; talking with Rude and Elena had helped some, but not for long. They all looked up when Tifa joined them.

"How is she?" Reno asked, trying to appear unconcerned.

"Resting," Tifa replied as she sat by Adine. "She's pretty worn out." Then she surprised him by leaning over and whispering in his ear. "It would help if you talked to her, you know."

"What?!" Reno sputtered. That was the last thing he wanted to do. "No way!"

Angrily she grabbed him by the arm, hauled him to his feet, and dragged him a few feet away from the others. 

"Listen to me," she spat. "I pulled you away so Adine wouldn't have to hear me threatening your life. Which is what I'm doing right now. Now, I think what Aeris really needs is to talk to you. And you WILL, if you don't want me to beat the crap out of you!"

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'll have you know, however, that I receive death threats all the time, and yours doesn't worry me much-"

He was cut short as Tifa socked him as hard as she could in the gut. He doubled over, gasping. She smirked as she helped him back up.

"Um…when was it I should talk to her again?" he wheezed.

"Not now," Tifa said. "In the morning. Oh yeah, and thanks!" She waved cheerfully as she joined the others.

Reno cursed softly to himself as he did, too.

"I with Cid were here," he complained aloud. "He's probably have lots of smokes. Which is exactly what I need right now."

"Shut up," Elena snapped. "It's probably good for you anyway, not wasting half your money and a good twenty years of your life on _cigarettes_." She said it like it was a cuss word. 

"If I quit, I wouldn't quit cold-turkey!" he snapped. "I heard that _kills_!"

"So does smoking," she replied sweetly. 

"Fine. I'd rather die happy with my cigarettes."

"Go to hell, Reno."

"I'm already going there. But thanks for your concern."


	4. Default Chapter Title

Chapter 9

Nanaki blinked. Light was filtering through his eyelids. 

The previous events rushed back to him. He staggered to his feet.

He looked around for the others. Yuffie and Barret were snoring on the couch, and Cid had conked out almost on top of him. Nanaki smacked him with his paw to wake him up.

Cid grunted and rolled over. He blinked when he saw Nanaki. "What the hell happened?"

Nanaki didn't answer, just stared.

"What?"

"Cid…what's that around your neck?"

"Whaddya mean 'what's on my neck'?!" Cid yelled. "What the hell's that on _your_ neck?!" Even as he spoke, his hands felt around the area by his collarbone. He let out a shout as his hands encountered something hard and cold.

"The @#$%?!" he cried in amazement. It felt like almost like an oversize collar. "Red, get this friggin' thing off me!"

Yuffie groaned and stirred. "What's all the yelling about? You woke me up."

"Yuffie!" Nanaki cried. "You've got one, too!"

"What?!" she shrieked. She spotted Cid frantically trying to pull his off and burst out laughing. "Oh, Cid! That collar suits you perfectly. Like the dog you are."

"Shut up, kid, you've got one too," Cid growled.

Yuffie felt hers. "Ewww! What's this gross thing?!"

"We all have one," Nanaki frowned. He jerked his head toward Barret. "Wake him up."

"Gladly," Yuffie grinned. She stood up, then leaped onto Barret's stomach.

"Ooof! What the hell d'you think you're doing you little-hey, what happened? Why're you wearing that thing? Why am I?"

"This was all a set-up," Nanaki said slowly. "There was no rescue ship after all. It was a trap."

"A trap?" Yuffie asked. "Then, what about Cloud and Tifa and Aeris? Are they all right?"

"Probably not," Nanaki said grimly. At this, Cid slammed a clenched fist into the wall. 

"@#$%^&* bastards! What the @#$% do they want?!"

Before he could continue ranting, Nanaki quickly cut in. "The point is not their main objective. At least not now. I'm wondering what these things they put on us are."

"Some sort of control device?" Yuffie wondered. "Maybe they watch us and if we get out of line- ZAAPPP! That's it!"

Cid stared at her. "You've been watching waaaay too many science fiction movies."

"Actually, she's right."

Cid turned to see a man in a black cloak. 

"Who the hell're you?!" he spat.

"A man who knows nothing can give nothing away. Secrecy is essential for me. Otherwise, rest assured, I'd immediately reveal my identity."

Cid stared a moment, then growled, "Like shit!" He tried to grab the cloak in his hands, but the man was too quick for him and dodged away.

"Stop it! I'm _helping_ you!"

"We don't accept help from strangers!" Yuffie proclaimed. Quick as lightning, she yanked off the cloak. 

"VINCENT?!"

A scowl was written across Vincent's face. He crossed his arms and glared at them. "Well, now you know. And if this gets out…"

Cid started laughing hysterically. "I should've known! Only you and Red talk like that!"

"Like what?" Nanaki wanted to know.

"Like some Shakespearean actor, only without the 'thees' and 'thous' and…I dunno, 'youiths'?" 

"Youiths? YOUITHS?!"

"Enough," Vincent cut in. "I don't have much time."

"Yeah," Yuffie said, suddenly looking suspicious. "What are you doing in the bad guys place?"

"I'm a sort of double agent," Vincent explained. "I noticed this group of people under the assumed name of Bio-Tech executing suspicious activities…and, well, I decided to join to see what was going on. What they do to bring humans under control is inject them with Jenova cells. They do this frequently enough so that the human eventually begins to _need_ the cells. Rather like a drug, as a matter of fact. Eventually Jenova poisons the person's mind enough so the human is gone. Nothing is left but pure evil. They are doing this to me." He extended his claw and looked at it sadly. "However, my…abnormalities…somehow protect me from Jenova infestation. I suppose they're at least good for _something_." He looked up, as though remembering they were there. "They're manipulating you. They put you in this room for a reason. There's a secret hatch, immediately below that picture on the wall." He jerked his head toward a framed painting of the Lifestream. "They _want_ you to open that hatch and escape in the submarine hidden there. Normally I'd advise you not to do what they want you to, but in this case it's essential. Your friends are trapped on an island; you must take the sub and rescue them. Speed is everything, understand?" He glared at them a moment.

"What do they _want_?" Yuffie asked. Her usually arrogant tone was replaced with a rather pleading one. She was afraid.

Vincent looked at her and his gaze softened. "They want revenge, mostly, against AVALANCHE. And the Turks, too, for reasons I can't fathom. But their main objective…" Here he drew a shuddering breath. "Their main objective is reviving Jenova. And for that they want Cloud. They _need_ Cloud, there, and the Headquarters. And they plan to accomplish all of this: lure Cloud to the laboratory, massacre of the rest AVALANCHE, and take care of the Turks all in a single sweep. They figure instead of the hassle of transporting Cloud to Headquarters, they will simply draw him there. By kidnapping Aeris. You _must _use that sub and get to Cloud and the others first." 

"Wait a damn minute!" Barret shouted. "What about Marlene?!"

Vincent studied him a moment. "She was taken first, to get you and AVALANCHE started on this journey. Don't worry. I have made sure she is kept in a safe place." 

He turned away. "One more thing. If you manage to catch up with us, be cautious. Those collars they put on you _are_ control devices. With them, they can control your actions whenever they wish. Don't forget that." He pointed to the hatch. "All right, hurry and get out of here. If you can reach the island before them we're in luck. _Try and stop them from getting Aeris._ That's the key point."

"Okay." Cid nodded and started for the hatch. Then he turned back. "Hey, Vince? Thanks."

Vincent gave his strange version of a smile, where his face was kept expressionless but the eyes somehow looked warmer. "Good luck. You'll need it."

"All right, Audios!" Cid yelled. He slipped through the hatch. Yuffie, Barret and Nanaki followed. 

Just as Vincent had said, a sub was waiting there. They climbed in.

"You know how to drive this thing, Cid?" Yuffie asked. "Because I sure don't."

"Of course I can drive it!" Cid snapped. "Okay, here's the 'Start' button…"

Immediately the lights went out. 

"Oh, _much_ better," Yuffie said sarcastically. "Cid, you are just so brilliant."

"Shut up, kid," he muttered, working with the controls. "Give me a minute."

After a few minutes, Cid had figured out the controls, and they were on their way.

******

The next morning, Aeris still hadn't joined them.

"She's moping away down in a little grotto," Tifa explained. "I figure it's fairly safe, so she can recover from the shock there." She stood up. "In fact, I'd better go see how she's doing. Reno, why don't you come with me?"

The cold, penetrating stare she gave him convinced him it'd probably be a good idea to agree. "Uh…sure."

They walked in silence to the grotto. Tifa was anxious to see how Aeris was doing, and Reno was feeling annoyed about this whole thing. He hated apologizing, whether he was in the wrong or not.

Suddenly Tifa looked up. "Do you hear…?"

"Wha?" He looked up too.

A helicopter was thudding nearer and nearer. Reno didn't know who it was, but he had a pretty good idea. 

"Get down!" he yelled.

"Why? They might help us-"

"Trust me, if that's who I think it is, you don't want to be seen. Get down!"

When Tifa still hesitated, he threw her down himself, then laid flat upon the grass.

The chopper cam incessantly closer until it was right above them. Reno cursed to himself. There was no way Kralin could not see them.

But the helicopter flew right on by. Tifa stood, brushing herself off.

"Well, what was that for?" she demanded, nettled. "You have no right to just push me down whenever you feel like it-"

"Aw, save it," he muttered. "But I don't get why he just passed us by. He _had_ to have seen us, and there was plenty of people for a landing-"

"Maybe it's just innocent people _like I suggested_," Tifa growled. Reno shook his head. 

"They would've at least stopped to ask us what the hell we're doing on a deserted island. It just doesn't make sense."

Tifa shrugged. "Well, whatever. Never _mind_ that you probably just made us miss out on our only chance out of here. Let's just continue with what we were doing before, and go visit Aeris." She stared walking.

Reno noticed she was walking in the same direction the helicopter had been heading in, and he swallowed hard. He jogged to catch up with Tifa.

She looked at his face. "Reno, what's wrong?"

"Well…you don't think it kind of a weird coincidence that the same helicopter that saw and ignored us is heading toward the same place Aeris is? Who, incidentally, was almost killed yesterday?" 

She stopped. "You don't think…"

Before she could finish, the helicopter came thudding up again. This time, both Tifa and Reno kept standing.

The chopper hovered to a halt right in front of them. Kralin smirked down at them.

"Long time you see, Reno."

"I don't recall introducing myself to _you_," he said coldly. Kralin's smirk grew wider.

"Oh, but I know all your names. You're Reno. That doll next to you is Tifa. And _this_ is Aeris." He shoved her into view.

"Aeris!" Tifa cried.

"Tifa!"

"Dammit!" Reno shouted. "What are you doing with her?!"

Rather than answer, Kralin pulled out a handgun. "I advise you to keep your silence."

Reno said nothing, though rage worked to control his face.

"Oh, what the hell, I'll just shoot you anyway," Kralin shrugged. He pulled the trigger.

"NO!" Aeris shrieked. The same instant he fired, she grabbed his wrist with both hands and jerked it to the side. 

Reno _felt_ the bullet whiz by his face. 

"Dammit, girl!" Kralin growled. He struck Aeris hard with the butt of the gun. She went down with a cry of pain.

Kralin turned to the pilot. "Let's get out of here." He gave them a mock salute as the helicopter lifted away.

"You get back here!" Tifa's face was livid with rage. "You coward!"

Reno jerked himself out of his state of mild shock and pulled out his gun. He fired wildly, but the bullets did nothing but ping off the body of the helicopter

"Dammit!" He yelled in frustration. He turned to Tifa. "C'mon, we've gotta get back to the others!" He took off at a run, Tifa close behind him.

Cloud had apparently been teaching Adine how to swim when they arrived, panting heavily. One look at them caused him to grab Adine and stand up at alarming speed. "Tifa…Reno…what-"

"Cloud, Aeris has been kidnapped!" Tifa cut in.

Cloud's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, she was trapped in a helicopter with the same guy that killed the captain of the ship!" Tifa said impatiently. "He's got her!"

Cloud took a moment to let this sink in, then glared at Reno. "How could you let this happen?!" he said sharply.

"Hey, don't look at me! It's not my fault the son of a bitch got a hold of her!" Reno yelled. "If I could've done a damn thing, don't you think I would've done it?!" But he was more angry with himself than Cloud. He ought to have done _something. _But now…

"I don't know!" Cloud shouted back. "All I know is, I turn my back for one minute and she's gone! This is at least twice now, maybe more she hasn't told me about. I'm starting to think you're in league with them!"

Before he could think, Reno's fist shot out and he punched Cloud in the face. Cloud staggered back, his hand to his cheek. A lump was already starting to swell beneath his left eye.

All eyes turned to Reno. He was breathing heavily, one hand holding back the guilty fist as though it itched for more.

"Take that back," he growled.

Cloud stared a second longer, than shook his head. "No."

"I said take that _back!_"

"_No!_"

No one was sure which one of them charged first, Cloud or Reno. But within seconds they were locked in heavy combat. Cloud's sword and Reno's gun stayed forgotten where they were. It was an all out brawl.

Cloud finally managed to Reno on his back, with one of his knees digging into Reno's spine. He seized Reno by his hair and banged his head against the ground. "Why don't you just admit you're nothing but an alcoholic punk who would sell out his own mother is something was in it for him?!"

"I may be an alcoholic punk but-" Deftly Reno grabbed Cloud's wrist and threw him off. He scrambled up quickly, got the blond man in a headlock and squeezed hard, choking him. "-don't you dare accuse me of selling out my mother." 

Cloud elbowed the Turk hard in the stomach, causing him to let go. He followed it up with a punch in the face. "You've been nothing but trouble since the day you invited yourself in our group!"

Reno tripped Cloud's feet out from under him, then dove on top of him to keep him down. "And you're nothing but a smart-ass prick who doesn't know what the hell he wants!"

Cloud jerked his head upward, head-butting the redhead in the face. He pulled away and twisted Reno's arms behind him. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?!"

"You know what I mean!" Reno twisted his head around and spat in Cloud's face, distracting him long enough for him to pull away. "The way you bounce between Aeris an' Tifa like a friggin' ping-pong ball!" 

Crimson with fury, Cloud slammed bodily into Reno, knocking him down. He climbed on top of him and punched him repeatedly in the face. "_How dare you_!"

Reno bit down hard on one of Cloud's wrists. Cloud screamed in pain and rolled away just as the very angry Turk swung at him. "It's not like you try to hide it, Spike! What, shocked to see everyone notices?!"

Cloud punched Reno in the gut, then aimed a fist at his head, but Reno evaded it. Frustrated Cloud tripped him, then punched him again. "You know what else everyone notices?!" he yelled. "That you're after Aeris! That's been obvious since the beginning!"

Furious, Reno rolled aside and scrambled up, then kicked Cloud under the chin. Cloud's head snapped back, and he went down as Reno leapt for him. "You stupid bastard! If you just said what I think you just said, you're not gonna live to-" 

Reno suddenly broke off when he realized his fists weren't punching Cloud anymore. Then he felt himself being bodily dragged away from his opponent.

"DAMMIT, Rude!" he exploded once he realized what was going on. "Let me go, I was proving a point-"

Rude shook his head. "The last thing we need is the two of you fighting."

Cloud was struggling against Tifa and Elena. "Let me at him, the son of a bitch-"

"Quit insulting my mother!" Reno shouted.

"That was supposed to insult YOU, jackass!"

"Go to hell, prick!"

"STOP IT!" Tifa yelled. "Rude's right, we don't need you two trying to kill each other on top of everything else. You're acting like babies, for Christ's sake! Not to mention Adine has been watching all this violence and profanity all along! And _now_ look what you've done! She's crying!"

Elena, however, still seemed to be concentrating on the fight. "-awesome, Reno. The way you bit him and then punched him in the jaw? Just beautiful."

Tifa cleared her throat loudly, which effectively stopped Elena from making any further comments. She glared at her, then looked down at Cloud.

"Okay, we'll let you guys go now, just no fighting. We don't have time."

Reno and Cloud were released. Although they were no longer fighting, the air was still throbbing with tension. 

"Okay," Tifa said, breaking the silence. "What do we do now?"

"We do what I said from the beginning," Reno growled. "We have to get out of here. The boat's our only option."

Cloud snorted. "We'd die before we got within ten miles of land."

"Oh, so what d'you wanna do, Spike? You wanna wait here and see if they'll come back?"

Cloud folded his arms across his chest. "I'm just not sure any advice _you_give is worth following."

"You keep giving me shit, you're gonna-"

"EXCUSE me," Tifa said loudly. "Cloud, he's right. We have to go after them. And we can't do anything on this island."

Cloud sighed in defeat.

A short while later, they were all packed in the boat. Reno had retrieved his electro-mag rod. The crackling electricity had been extinguished by the rain, so it was safe to touch. Both he and Cloud were paddling. (The others had figured that would keep them from each others' throats…for the time being, at least.)

"Where are we going, anyway?" Reno grunted.

"I don't know," Tifa answered. "Let's just try rowing far enough away so we can get our bearings."

"Hey!" Elena, who had been leaning over the side, suddenly looked up. "There's something _really_ big down there."

"Big?" Cloud looked at her sharply. "Big as in how?"

"Big as in…well, I don't know. But _really_ big."

"Oh. Well _that_helps."

Elena shrieked and leaned back. "It's coming up to the surface!"

Even before the others could react, a large object had surfaced, creating waves large enough to rock the boat backwards.

Cloud unsheathed his sword. "Looks like they came for the rest of us."

"Cut the bravado, geek," Reno couldn't help saying. 

The hatch on top of the sub began to turn. Everyone watched with bated breath as it opened to reveal…Cid!

He grinned at their surprise. "It's about time we found you guys." He looked around, or at least as well as he could with the large metal collar around his neck "Where's Aeris?"

"She's…gone," Cloud said. "Taken away."

Cid slammed the side of the sub in frustration. "Damn! We're too late!" He sighed. "Well, guess we'd better go then. Get up here."

Once they were all safely inside the sub, they each explained what had happened to them. When Cloud had finished, Cid took a long drag on his cigarette.

"So what now?" he questioned.

"We should try to rescue her," Cloud decided. "Did Vincent say anything about the location of the headquarters?"

Cid shook his head. "Not a clue."

"Damn." Cloud ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Okay, let's review the facts. We know they have a place large enough for helicopter landings. They need a lab…" He shook his head in frustration. "That eliminates maybe two places."

"Wait!" Tifa interrupted. "They have a ship, right? And there are only two harbors. Maybe we can get some information that way."

Cloud nodded. "I guess that's all we have to go by." He looked at Cid. "Are we closer to Junon or Costa del Sol?"

Cid touched the navigational map on the control panel. "Junon."

"Okay," Cloud said. "We'll head for Junon and see what we can dig up. In the meantime everyone get some rest. You'll need it."

Chapter 10

Rude found Reno later in a dark corner, cursing as he tried to repair his electro-mag rod.

"Can you fix it?" Rude asked, sitting down beside him. Reno's only reply was a loud oath as he shocked himself.

"You haven't been yourself at all," Rude commented, watching his friend use his knife to pull out a wire. "Is it because of your fight with Cloud? I know he socked you pretty good." Reno ignored him. "How do you feel, anyway?"

At long last, Reno looked up. "I've got a black eye, an uncountable number of bruises, and a wrist that's too damn close to broken to be ignored," he snapped. "Now will you shut up and let me finish this?!"

Rude shut up, but he didn't go away. He hung around until, annoyed, Reno put down his rod with a sigh. "All right. What the hell do you want?"

Rude shrugged. "I just wanted to know what was the matter. Normally you'd be in the center of attention, bothering Cloud and teasing Elena. Now you're sulking in a corner."

Reno picked up his rod again. "None of your damn business," he growled. "Just go away."

Rude watched him a moment longer before saying, "Is it because of Aeris?"

"What?" Reno's head snapped up. "Why the hell'd you think that?!"

Rude shrugged again. "I know there was that problem with that guy you killed, and then she was taken away. It'd be just like you to blame yourself for that."

Reno went back to working on his rod. "She saved my life. That bastard was going to shoot me, but she stopped him." He shook his head. "I'm not going to let him win."

"Cid says Vincent told them Aeris is only bait," Rude said. "What if they kill her?"

Reno slid back the panel on his rod, then flipped it on. He grinned coldly as the end crackled with electricity. "If he does, there'll be hell to pay. But he won't, because I'm gonna kill him before that ever happens."

"You really care about her, don't you, Reno," Rude said thoughtfully.

Reno looked at him in astonishment.

"What do I look like? You? Only a blithering idiot would bother going for a girl so obviously hung up on that moron, Cloud." He shook his head and started reloading his gun. "Nah, I just owe her. And I need to have a little chat with Kralin." He grinned as he flipped back the safety on his gun.

Rude stared at him. "I don't believe that."

"Shut up," Reno said sharply. "Didn't I tell you to go away?!"

Rude sighed, and stood. "Fine. But don't think I'm not keeping an eye on you." He left.

Reno glumly stared at the gun in his hands. One of the last things Aeris had said to him was to call him a monster. One of the last things he had said to her was to call her weak.

He shook his head and stuffed the gun in its holster. He was the one who was weak. Cloud was right, he had let Kralin take Aeris, let her slip through his fingers like water. He was sure now that he could've done something, should've done something. But he had frozen. He hadn't done a damn thing. 

He scowled to himself. Turks weren't supposed to lose control or freeze in emergency situations. He put his face in his hands and rubbed his eyes tiredly. If he was a better Turk, Aeris would still be here. And he wouldn't be feeling like shit now.

"Hey, I'm surprised you didn't come begging for a smoke before now."

Startled, Reno lifted his face from his hands. "Oh…Cid." He suddenly looked suspicious. "If Rude sent you, I'm gonna kick his ass so bad-"

Cid laughed nervously. "Rude? Send me? Don't know what you're talking about." When Reno continued to glare at him, he sighed and sat down. "Okay, maybe he did. But don't get pissed. He's just concerned." He dug in his pocket and produced a pack of cigarettes. He offered one to Reno, who accepted it with quiet thanks. 

They smoked in silence a minute. Then, out of the blue, Reno said, "Hey, Cid? Did you ever feel like you were getting…I don't know. Like weaker, somehow?"

Cid puffed on his cigarette. "Maybe. Why?"

"It's like this, Cid." Reno ran his free hand through his hair. "I've always been able to control myself. No matter what I thought or feel, I was able to hide it. It's what made me a good Turk. Rude and Elena counted on it. I counted on it." He sighed. "Now I'm losing my control. I can't believe I picked a fight with Cloud! Although it felt pretty damn good at the time." The ghost of a smirk flickered across his lips. 

Cid _did _smirk. He liked Cloud, and knew it was Reno who had started the actual fight. Still, he thought he saw a shadow of himself in the sarcastic, easy-going Turk. "You did a good number on him, I'll tell you that. But as for that other thing…" He exhaled a cloud of smoke, thinking. "I don't know, kid. Seems to me it's just a wake-up call. Just let it run. You'll figure it out eventually." He stood up. "I've gotta go. Can't let those blockheads try running the sun for long. We're probably already a mile off course."

"Yeah," Reno said. "Thanks for the smoke."

"No prob. And try an' get some sleep."

After Cid had gone, Reno sat a long time, thinking.

******

That night, Reno kept himself awake by chain-smoking (Cid style) and unloading and reloading his gun. Once he was sure everyone else was asleep, he stood up.

He was already dressed in his Turk uniform, with the gun in its holster. Groping on the end table for his electro-mag rod, he knocked over a lighter. He gave a soft curse as it clattered to the floor. 

He listened carefully. No one had stirred. Picking up his rod, he crept silently to the door.

"You're going to go rescue her, I presume?"

Startled, Reno whirled around. Natural reflexes made him jerk out his gun and aim it at the speaker. Then he blinked, realizing who it was.

"Dammit, Rude!" he whispered. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

He shrugged. "Elena and I figured you'd try pulling something stupid like this on your own. Although I think she fell asleep."

"You're not going to stop me," Reno said angrily. "It's my fault she got there in the first place, so I'm going to get her out."

"You do realize it'd be much more sensible to wait for tomorrow and go with Cloud and the others."

He laughed hollowly. "I'm a Turk, remember? Turks always work alone."

Rude said nothing, just stared at him. 

"'Sides," Reno continued. "I'm not quite sure about some things. I've gotta make sure I can still _be_ a Turk, you know? Sorta brushing up on my skills."

Rude still said nothing.

"You're not gonna stop me," Reno repeated.

Rude looked surprised. "Of course not. We're going with you."

"Oh." Reno blinked. Then, "Waittaminute! I don't need any help!"

"Too bad, Reno. We're Turks. We stick together." Then he added, "What, are you pulling a 'Cloud'? Trying to give the impression of a loner?"

"No way!" Reno shook his head violently. "You guys can come."

"Good. Let's wake Elena."

They trudged down the hall to find the female Turk slumped against the wall, sound asleep. Reno tapped her on the head with his electro-mag rod.

"Mmm…Tseng?" Elena opened one bleary eye.

"Now _that's_ interesting," Reno commented. "We wake her up and the first thing she says is 'Tseng'? Say, Elena? What were you dreaming about?"

She flushed. "That's not funny! Why'd you wake me up, anyway?"

"We're leaving to rescue Aeris," Reno shrugged. "Of course, if you don't want to come…if you'd rather get back to dreaming about Tseng…"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" She jumped up. "And I was _not_ dreaming about Tseng!"

"Tsk, Tsk, Elena. Have you no respect for the dead? How do you think that'd make him feel?"

"Oh, shut up," she growled.

They snuck out of the hatch. As it was so late, naturally the harbormaster wasn't there. They had docked on their own and decided to wait until morning to talk to him.

As they crept into the city, Elena said, "So where are we going, anyway?"

The two older Turks glanced at one another. "You tell her," Rude said.

Reno sighed and started twirling his rod in his fingers. "Well, Elena. As we are the _older_ and _more experienced_ Turks, it's natural we some things you don't. Over the course of the years, I had finally managed to earn the company's trust. It was a long and bumpy road but-"

"Reno. Get to the point."

He grinned at her. "Okay. Rude an' me know about a secret Shinra base here. It was hidden, actually, because it's a military base. They had a lab."

Elena scoffed. "They told _you_ and not_ me_?"

"Hey, I may be kind of a smart-aleck, but they trust me. You're still a rookie." He leered at her.

She scowled. "No, Reno. You're not a smart-aleck. You're a smart-ass." 

"Whatever. Come on." He led them down to dirty street. He stopped at the entrance to a shallow alley. Reno grinned at Elena.

"_Here's_ what the company told me and not you."

Grabbing hold of a nearby manhole cover, he pulled up. The cover slid aside to reveal a ladder. 

"Ew," Elena said. "You expect us to go down there? In the sewers? Where it's all gross and slimy? No way."

He rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Elena, do you have any idea how unprofessional you sound? I know you like to think you're some high-class chick and all that, but get a grip. We're _Turks_. A little sewer slime doesn't bother us."

She gingerly climbed down the ladder. "It just doesn't seem practical. Are you _sure _this is the only way in?"

"No. I'm only making you go down to toughen you up," Reno snapped. "Of _course_ this is the only entrance, at least that I know of. And that's why it's such a secret." He followed her down. Rude was last, shutting the cover on the way.

Elena shuddered. "Well, I can see why _this_ place has never been invaded." She looked at Reno. In the dark, she could barely make him out. "Where's the flashlight?"

"Ah," he said nervously. "The flashlight. Um…"

"Did you forget to bring one?!" she demanded. 

"I…thought it'd sharpen our Turk skills without one?" He offered. Elena, however, didn't buy it.

"You MORON!" she exploded. "You knew we'd be going down into a dark sewer and you didn't even bring a FLASHLIGHT?! What's WRONG with you?!"

"Hey, it's late, all right?" Reno said defensively. "I was kind of in a rush."

"Still, you should've at least _thought_-"

"Elena, remember those numerous little talks we had about your big mouth? Now would be a good idea to put the term 'shutting up' into practice."

She glared at him, but shut up. Pleased, Reno looked around.

"Okay. I _think_ it's this way." 

He led them through one tunnel into another one. They traveled without mishap, though Elena would let out an occasional shriek whenever she saw (or felt) something especially slimy.

At last they came to another ladder. 

"Okay," Reno said, halting. "It's gonna get pretty ugly from here. If either of you want out-" He stopped as Elena snorted impatiently. He grinned. "All right then. Let's rock and roll."

They climbed up the ladder, and Reno pushed the manhole cover aside. Then he helped Rude and Elena up.

They were in a kind of large cavern. The only light came from the mako glow of the walls. In the center of the cavern was a large building.

"There," Reno said, grinning broadly. "I told you it was top secret."

Elena frowned. "I just hope you're right. That they _did_ bring Aeris here."

He started toward the building. "And since when am I ever wrong? Elena, you must realize: I'm _always_ right."

"As if," she muttered.

There were a few sentries guarding the entrance. They looked bored and not really paying attention to what they were doing. Reno looked at his fellow Turks. "First greeting procedure. Ready?"

They nodded. Reno stepped into view of the guards.

"I've been sent with a message stating you must leave at once," he said clearly. "This building is condemned."

The guards stared until one swaggered up to him.

"The hell you talkin' about?" he growled. "This is a top-secret, underground military base!"

Reno rolled his eyes. "You are now standing on state property. You'll have to leave now."

"But-"

Elena stepped up. "Sir, we have our orders. Leave at once, or we shall have to make you."

"You-"

"You have been warned," Rude added.

The man scowled. "Who are you guys?"

Reno smiled pleasantly. "We are the Department of Administrative Research founded by the former Shinra, Inc." He suddenly grabbed the man by the scruff of the neck and punched him in the face. While Rude and Elena opened fire at the other guards, he yanked out his electro-mag rod and kicked the gun out of the man's hands. Within seconds all the guards had been killed except for the one right in front of him.

"Also known as the Turks." Reno smirked coldly as recognition dawned on the man. He began to stutter uncontrollably. Reno cut him short by brutally jabbing the end of his electro-mag rod in the man's mouth. There was a moment in which electricity jarred the man's body, then he was still.

Reno turned to the others. He was looking oddly eager. "Come on!" He ran up the steps of the building.

Inside, it was practically deserted. Elena looked at Reno questioningly.

"Well, you didn't expect them to just come out with a neon saying that says, 'Hey Turks! Here's Aeris!' did you?!" he snapped. He ran a hand through his hair in annoyance. "Maybe we should split up."

"No." Rude shook his head. "Let's stay together."

"Yeah," Elena agreed. "Someone will find us soon enough. What with all our shooting outside, we may as well have announced we were here."

"You are correct about that."

Confused, the Turks looked around. 

"Who said that?" Elena whispered.

"Fah. I'm right here."

With that, a man leaped from the balcony above, landing gracefully in front of them. Slowly he straightened.

"You!" Elena gasped.

Rude said nothing, just glared.

Reno narrowed his eyes. "Aren't you dead?"

He wore a tattered lab coat that around his knees was in rags. His long, greasy black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, exposing his broad forehead. Tiny oval spectacles rested on his stubby nose, shielding his eyes from view. 

It was Professor Hojo.

A mad, power-crazed man, driven by a lust for science. Reno remembered how, toward the end, he had injected his own body with Jenova cells.

__

He's the exact definition of 'mad scientist', Reno thought in disgust. _I always thought he was a little _too_ obsessed with his 'specimens'._

So it was him who had once again caught Aeris. The final irony of the situation seemed too much. 

Hojo snorted. "AVALANCHE may have been able to defeat my son, but they weren't as thorough when they fought me. Jenova cells kept me alive then, as they do now."

"So it's true?" Elena broke out. "Sephiroth was your son?"

Reno scowled; this was no time to be questioning the enemy. But Hojo seemed patient enough, almost amused as he answered her.

"Yes. Sephiroth, who almost succeeded in making himself invincible, was my son." His mouth curved in a sniggering grin. "But I shall finish what he did not."

"Enough bullshit," Reno interrupted. "Where's Aeris?"

Hojo _did_ look amused. "Oh…you must mean my precious new specimen. She's in a safe place."

"Specimen, my ass!" Reno yelled. "Where is she?!"

"Temper, temper, Turk," Hojo sneered. "Oh, that reminds me." He snapped his fingers. Instantly Vincent stepped from the shadows. His face was expressionless.

"Meet one of my super-elite Turks." Hojo sounded as though he was introducing a kid from a different school. "I believe you've met his leader, Kralin. As for the other…I think you've done him in." He walked to Vincent and rested a hand on his shoulder. Vincent did not flinch under the loathsome touch, though he looked like he would like to. "However, you'll find it much harder to kill Mr. Valentine…he has very unusual abilities, you see."

"Vincent?" Elena said in surprise. "But I thought he-"

Reno effectively cut her short by digging his elbow into her side, then shaking his head firmly. 

"Yes, Vincent Valentine was once a member of AVALANCHE," Hojo said, who thankfully wasn't aware of what Elena had almost given away. "But he is under my control now. He does what _I_ want." He sounded all too pleased at having the hated Vincent Valentine under his command. "And he will deal with you now. It's been a pleasure, Turks, but I have business to take care of." He turned to Vincent. "Kill them, and bring me their heads." He left.

The Turks stared at Vincent, who stared back calmly.

"You've set off an alarm," he said at last. "Back-up guards will be here any moment. We must fight."

Reno yanked out his rod. He looked at Rude and Elena, then back at Vincent. "May the best man win," he said coolly. 

Vincent nodded. "And to you. Good luck."

Reno made the first move. He by no means planned to kill Vincent, but they would have to fight realistically enough so his cover wasn't blown. His rod was ready, but the end wasn't crackling with electricity. Reno had purposely forgotten to turn it on.

He slammed the rod at Vincent, who in turn held him off with the gun. Reno could see by Vincent's eyes that he wasn't really trying either.

Deciding to see just how good a fighter this guys r_eally_ was, Reno broke off. A flash of a smile touched his lips, and he rushed Vincent, leaping into the air just in time to land behind him.

Vincent, however, wasn't caught off guard like Reno had expected. Instead, he was ready and warded off Reno's next attack with his metal claw. So far, Vincent hadn't made any offensive moves.

"C'mon, Vinnie," Reno whispered. "Have a little fun."

"You're being foolish," Vincent warned.

"You're just afraid I'll beat the crap outta ya."

Vincent didn't answer, merely shrugged his shoulders as thought to say, "You've asked for it." With that, he began shooting.

At this, Reno grinned. He rolled to the floor, then threw himself at Vincent's legs. Both went down hard.

"You're still not trying!" Reno scolded. "Come on! Make me fight for my life!"

"What are you wasting both our time and out energy for?!" Vincent demanded.

Instead of answering, Reno kicked his opponent away, then flipped backward onto his feet. He was surprised to see Vincent do the same thing. 

"Are you-" he began, but was cut short as Vincent started shooting again, more earnestly now. Swearing under his breath, he jerked away. When the bullets stopped, he moved in to attack, but then Vincent was right in front of them.

With a sharp smack on the head from Vincent's metal claw, Reno went down. Within a second Vincent had rolled him over and twisted his hands behind his back.

"Yes, I was once a Turk," Vincent said softly. "You're quite good. But too confident." He let Reno climb to his feet.

"How?" he asked. "It's good to be confident, right?"

Vincent gave him a piercing look. "Never underestimate your foe."

"If you two are about finished," Elena cried, "there's about sixty weird-looking machine things coming!"

Instantly Reno whirled around. She was right. Dozens of robots were whirling in, each with metal plates, like armor, covering their metallic bodies. Two guns were attached to each side of their hull.

"Terminal androids," Vincent whispered. "Brand-new prototype. They're operated from the inside by trained soldiers. Very hard to defeat. And even once you do, the man inside will just jump out and attack you."

Reno switched his rod on to maximum voltage. "Bring 'em on."

Vincent glanced sidelong at him. "Remember what I said about cockiness."

"Hell, I know!"

"I'll help in any way I can, but I have to make it look like I'm fighting you. So for the most part you're on your own."

Reno looked at Rude and Elena. "You two attack them," he said in a loud, clear voice. "I'll take care of Vampy here."

He saw the clawed man raise his eyebrows. _Vampy?_ He mouthed.

Reno shrugged. _It works,_ he mouthed back. He narrowed his eyes and focused all his attention on Vincent. He would win this time.

Dodging to the side, he rushed his opponent. But the ex-Turk flipped him upward with an incredible sweep of his hand. Reno flipped over in midair, then landed in a crouching position behind Vincent.

The two men looked at each other: Vincent with calculating coolness, Reno with cocky indifference. However, in both Turks' eyes shone a new light: respect.

Reno suddenly discerned a presence behind him. He gave a loud string of curses as he dove to the floor. 

The android stopped shooting at the place were he'd been and turned for him. But it was a machine, clumsy and slow-moving. 

He jerked aside and started firing, but the bullets did little more than dent the metal. With a loud, "Oh, _crap_!" He dodged aside just as the android starting shooting again.

He spied a crack in between the metal plates of the machine. Cranking his rod to maximum output, he shoved it in the crack. Sparks flew out, some stinging Reno in the face. But he kept his rod there until something exploded inside the android, and smoke seeped out of the crack.

He saw Vincent looking at him, and Reno grinned. Then he startled as bullets whizzed by his head. The man who had been operating the android from the inside had come out and started shooting. Reno ducked behind the wrecked android, thinking wryly about what Vincent had said about cockiness. 

He leaped from behind the machine and started firing. Soon his target was on the defensive, and Reno's eyes were glinting with triumph.

A hard slam on the head knocked him down. He gazed blearily up at another android, one that had used its heavy metal fist to hit him on the head.

It was then the man from the first android opened fire. Reno was able to evade most of the bullets, but one caught him on the shoulder. He let out an involuntary yell and clutched his shoulder. Blood seeped from between his fingers. The man stepped forward to finish him off.

In an instant Rude was _there_. He punched the man hard in the face, then kicked him in the gut, sending him sprawling backwards. Meanwhile Elena had cast Bolt on the other android, making it short-circuit. Then she started to deal with the other androids closing in. 

Rude helped Reno stand up. "You all right?"

"I'm fine," Reno said. He shrugged off Rude's hand and stood by himself. "But thanks, man. I was dog food back there."

"Guys!" Elena yelled. "I need help here! There's too many!"

Rude gave Reno a shove. "You go on. Get Aeris. We'll handle this."

Reno looked at him incredulously. "No way! You'll never make it."

"Are you doubting us, Reno?" Rude asked, sounding for once irritated. "It's the only way. Get out!"

Reno looked about to protest again, but saw the steely expression in Rude's brown eyes and thought better of it. "All right. Later!"

Rude nodded once to him, then went to help Elena.

Reno used his speed to get to the edge of the fighting. He had to destroy a few more androids, but it was easier now that he had an idea how. 

Breaking into a flat-out run, he raced to the back of the main hall. Here it split into two pathways. He chose the left one, simply because it was closer.

His footsteps echoed as he ran down the hall, until he finally had to stop. The pain in his left shoulder was making it unbearable to keep running. He slowed down and (cursing softly all the while) tore a strip from his jacket. Carefully he tied it around his shoulder in a rough tourniquet.

A sudden noise startled him, and he looked up, gun at ready.

Nothing there.

He straightened up, suspicious eyes darting around. But he saw no one.

Cautiously he started walking, the silence now deafening. The noise of the battle he had left behind. All he heard now were his own footsteps.

Where could Aeris be?

The hall spiraled around until it came to a dead end. He was about to start swearing in frustration when he noticed to heavy metal doors on the left. He paused a moment, then pulled open the one on the right.

Inside, it was an empty room. Not that large. Boxes were heaped up in every corner. A grate was in the right side of the wall.

__

Nothing here, Reno decided. He turned back and opened the door on the left.

This room was much more spacious than the other. Once again, it was filled with empty boxes. It seemed like a kind of storage room.

Reno stepped into the room. He was so tense he could hear his own pulse. He wondered if it was echoing in the huge room. 

Losing patience, he finally decided to just lure Kralin out.

"HEY! Kralin!" His words echoed back to him. "I know you're here somewhere…so just cut the shit and show yourself, all right?"

Silence.

Oh, well. It had been a pretty stupid idea anyway.

He sighed and was about to continue searching when he heard a muffled shout. Pure instincts saved him; he dove down to the floor just as a shot ran out.

He straightened up, wincing as a dagger of pain stabbed through his shoulder. If he wasn't careful that shoulder'd get him into trouble. 

Very slowly and purposely, Kralin stepped out from behind the crates. He held a terrified Aeris with one arm looped around her neck, and a gun pointed to her head. It was she who had managed to warn him in time.

"Hey!" Kralin smiled amiably, as though he and Reno had met on an afternoon stroll. "Long time no see."

"I don't have time for bullshit," Reno snapped. "Let her go."

Kralin's smile grew wider. "Ah, but don't you get it, Reno? Although this may be impossible for you to comprehend in your puny little mind, I seem to be the one holding all the cards here."

Reno knew the purpose of the insult. (Though to him it sounded pathetic.) It was supposed to get him angry and throw him off his guard. But he had used the same trick himself many times before, and kept his cool.

"'Cards'?" he wanted to know. "What 'cards'?"

Kralin's smile flickered. "The girl, of course. You'd be pretty upset if my finger slipped on the trigger, wouldn't you?"

"Hell no," Reno shrugged. "Doesn't bother me at all. Kill the bitch, for all I care."

Aeris' eyes went wide with shock, and she looked about to make a very angry remark, but her words lodged in her throat when she heard her captor flick the safety back.

"You sure?" Gently Kralin's finger pressed down on the trigger.

"Yeah," Reno snorted. "You think I give a shit whether she lives or dies?"

"You're a cold bastard, Reno." Kralin looked down at Aeris. "Any last words, girl?"

Aeris could only let out a strangled gasp. 

"Good." His finger squeezed the trigger until…

Kralin swung the gun around to Reno, who had his own gun out. "Drop it." 

Reno hesitated.

"You idiot!" Kralin thundered. "You think such tricks work on me? I said _drop the gun_!" He pointed his gun at Aeris' head again. "Or we'll see how much you really give a shit whether she lives or dies."

Reno scowled. But he had no chance. Angrily he tossed the gun to the ground. 

"Your electro-mag rod, too. I'm no fool."

Slowly Reno unstrapped his rod from his waist, then laid it on the floor next to the gun. He was weaponless.

"I want you facedown on the floor with your hands linked behind your head," Kralin ordered, "_Now_!"

He hesitated. But he knew from Kralin's eyes that he meant business. If he thought it necessary to shoot Aeris, he would.

Slowly Reno got down on the floor. He felt like cussing worse than Cid right then. He had failed. Failed as a Turk, failed as a rescuer. He had already failed as a human being.

And now he would die. They would almost certainly kill Aeris, too. And Rude and Elena were probably already dead.

Aeris looked at Reno, and could tell by his eyes that he had already given up hope. 

Aeris never gave up hope. Even if she had to supply it herself.

She saw Kralin's attention was totally focused on Reno. Inwardly she scoffed. He wasn't the only dangerous one here. 

Quickly reaching up, she shoved the arm holding the gun away from her head, then ducked to the floor. With amazing speed, she grabbed Reno's electro-mag rod and switched it on, then shoved it into her captor's groin.

Looking up, Reno winced. That _had_ to be painful.

Leaping to his feet, he grabbed the rod from Aeris and shot a beam of energy toward Kralin. In an instant the man was trapped inside a pyramid of electricity. His mouth opened in a yell of outrage, but no sound came out.

Grabbing his gun from the floor, Reno beckoned to Aeris. "It'll take him some time to break that. Come on!" They raced through a door in the right wall.

Inside, Reno saw they were in the same room he had been in before. Figuring they were safe for a while, he sat down on a crate. His shoulder was starting to bother him again now that the adrenaline rush had worn off.

Aeris smiled. "I knew you guys would come. Where's Cloud?"

"Cloud?" Suddenly it didn't seem like the smartest thing in the world to Reno to tell Aeris he had gone himself because he had gotten in a fight with Cloud and did not intend in the least to cooperate with him. "Uh, he's…with the others."

"Oh," Aeris said, looking a trifle confused. "Um, listen…" A faint blush colored her cheeks. "I'm sorry. About what happened on the island. You did what you had to."

Reno was amazed. _She_ was apologizing? Did this mean he didn't even have to? But a sudden vision of an enraged Tifa filled his mind, and he swallowed.

"I guess…I'm sorry too," he said. "I wasn't very understanding."

She looked surprised. "You are?"

"……yeah."

She smiled again. "Thank you."

__

Hm, Tifa's right, she does look like she feels better, Reno thought. He turned his attention to unraveling his makeshift tourniquet.

"Let me see." Gently Aeris did it for him. She examined the wound, then shook her head. "It's the same shoulder that was shot before."

"Hell, that one didn't hurt half as much!"

'That's because I healed it." She continued inspecting the wound.

"…Could you do that now?"

She smiled triumphantly, as though pleased he had asked. "I'll try."

She cupped her hands around the bullet hole, then closed her eyes. Her lips moved silently as a faint breeze blew around them.

Reno watching in astonishment as the pain dwindled, until it almost disappeared. At last Aeris broke away, sweating a little.

"I'm sorry. It tires me a little."

"Hey, that's better. Thanks." He began wrapping the tourniquet around it again.

"Reno?"

He looked up.

"Thank you for coming." She beamed at him once, and Reno didn't really know what to say.

"Aw, isn't this a sweet scene." 

Kralin dropped from the rafters above to land next to them. Reno yanked out his gun and started shooting but, incredibly, his target dodged to the side. Then he plunged his hand into his black suit jacket and pulled out an object. Reno recognized it: A time bomb.

"SHIT!" He yelled. Thinking fast, he opened the grate in the wall. Aeris caught on and crawled in. He dove in after her just as the explosion rocked the building.


	5. Default Chapter Title

Hey guys! Long time no see!

I know hardly anyone's still reading this, but I hate leaving a story unfinished. However, if you have not read the earlier chapters, as well as The Flow of the Lifestream, turn back NOW. (You can just click on my name if you wanna read them) This will make NO sense if you don't.

And, as some people have figured out, this does happen to be a Reno/Aeris fic. If you have a problem with that, well, there are plenty of Aeris/Cloud or Reno/Elena fics out there. Go ahead.

Woah, still here? Cool. Now, (just checking) make sure you have read THE REST OF Sacrifices of the Heart. Here's a quickie on what just happened-

  * Barret's daughter, Marlene has been kidnapped.
  * AVALANCHE set out on a journey to discover what's up. They took a ship, which was torched by a weird guy Aeris has seen in her dreams. His name's Kralin, wears a black suit.
  * Cloud, Tifa, a kid named Adine Tifa rescued from the burning ship, Elena, Rude, Reno and Aeris ended up on an island with no way to get back. Then a guy who looks just like Zack (heh, gave something away) was trying to kill them. Reno killed him. (Yay Reno!) Then Aeris is abducted anyways, by Kralin.
  * As a result, Cloud and Reno get into a fistfight. Rude and Tifa pull them apart, but there's still some friction there.
  * Cid and the rest of AVALANCHE were rescued by an enemy ship, where Vincent (a double agent) gave them a head's up about what's happening. Cid took a sub to the island, too late to get Aeris but early enough to rescue Reno, Rude, Elena Tifa, Adine & Cloud. 
  * The Turks decide to do their own thing and head over to a top-secret military base, where they suspect Aeris is being held. They go there, bust up the place, and find out Hojo's baaaaaaack. 
  * And here's where this part begins…. 

Chapter 11

Tifa woke the following morning feeling like she could sleep for another eternity. She felt sore and tired. 

Angrily she forced herself to sit up. Only weaklings would loll in bed because of sore muscles. She yawned and stretched, blinking sleep away from her eyes. As she did so she glanced around at the others in their sleeping spots. 

Adine lay curled next to her. Tifa sighed, looking down at the child's face. The poor kid shouldn't be coming on such a dangerous journey. But what choice did she have?

Yuffie lay outstretched on the floor, still asleep. Tifa noted with a little amusement (and a lot of annoyance) that her materia bag was bulging.

She noticed with surprise that Elena wasn't leaning on the wall she had fallen asleep against last night. Feeling for some reason uneasy, she disentangled herself from Adine and walked to the room where the guys slept.

Barret, Cloud and Nanaki were in their designated sleeping positions: Cloud sprawled half-on, half-off a small cot, Barret leaning on a crate, and Nanaki on the floor. 

Reno and Rude were missing.

Feeling more than a little suspicious, she considered waking Cloud, but he would just get angry at them. She decided to try Cid.

Walking to the bridge of the sub, she discovered Cid asleep in the captain's chair. She shook his shoulder gently to wake him.

"Don't choose Shera…" he mumbled. "Even the moon'd get tired waiting around for her ass…huh? Whazzat?"

"Cid," Tifa whispered. "Where are the Turks? They're missing."

"So what do you want me to do about it?" he muttered crankily.

"Did they say anything to you?" Tifa's voice was strained from trying to keep her patience.

"Wait…." Cid finally seemed to be figuring this out. "You mean the Turks? Reno and them?"

"Yes!" Tifa snapped. "Yes, they've gone!" 

"Ahhh…" he groaned. "Should've known."

"What?"

"Dumb-ass kid went by himself. Those other two went with him."

"Where?!" Tifa said in frustration. 

Cid stood up, rubbing his eyes. He went immediately over to a waiting pack of cigarettes on a nearby table. He placed one in his mouth and tried to light it.

"Well?" Tifa demanded. 

After several failed attempts, Cid succeeded in igniting the end. He took a long drag, then spoke.

"Where d'you think? Listen. That kid was busy beating himself up when I saw him. Rude told me 'bout how he nearly bit off Rude's head when he asked him if he was all right. You could tell he was up to sumthin'. The kid blames himself, so he went."

Tifa slammed the table in frustration. "Could anything else go wrong?!" She sighed. "What a moron. Okay. I'll go tell Cloud." She left.

Cid simply stood there a minute, smoking and thinking. He didn't think Reno was a moron. The guy was just…what the hell was the word…impulsive.

Cid shook his head. Kinda misguided, maybe, but he had to say, he liked Reno. He reminded him of himself at a younger age.

And maybe this age, too. Cid grinned to himself, then flinched on hearing Cloud's voice yelling.

"EVERYONE MEET AT THE BRIDGE _NOW_!" 

Obviously Cloud was pissed. Cid sighed and sat down in the pilot's chair. _Here comes another boring meeting, _he thought in irritation. 

Ten minutes later, everyone was gathered at the bridge. Tifa and Cloud had just finished explaining the problem. 

"Damn Turks," Barret muttered. "How do we know they haven't jus' gone an' turned us in again? They did it 'afore."

"I'm all for just kicking them out when and if we catch up to them," Cloud said. "Who's with me?"

"Wait a minute," Tifa interrupted. "I'm angry with them too, but I don't think we should kick them out. They've been a big help at times."

Cloud hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah, maybe you're right. But first, even if they _have_ gone after Aeris, where did they go? And how did they know where to go?"

No one knew. The only sounds were Cid's soft snores. 

"Why don't we just go along with our original plan," Tifa suggested. "It'll be a lot easier and less hassle than just randomly searching."

"Yeah," Cloud said slowly. "I guess that's our only choice."

After they had managed to wake Cid, all of them (Tifa had refused to leave Adine alone) were gathered on the dock. A greying, middle-aged man that could only be the harbormaster sat reading a newspaper. He scarcely looked up when the group trooped over to him. 

"You want sumthin'?" ht said distractedly. 

"We'd like to ask you a few questions," said Cloud loudly. The man only shrugged.

"Perhaps we should introduce ourselves," Cloud said after a moment. "We are AVALANCHE."

The man's eyebrows went up, and, scowling, he put down the paper. "All right. Whaddya want?"

"The ship _Midgar Zolom_. What do you know about it?"

"Nothin'," the man snapped. "It's a made-up name."

Barret cracked. He was sick with worry over Marlene, and the fact that they knew a little more about their enemy's mission only made him more angry. He was worried and afraid and enraged.

He grabbed the man by the collar, lifting him clear off the ground up to Barret's towering 6 feet 4 inches. Then he aimed his gun-arm at the man's head.

"Lissen, you little &@#$%^," he snarled. "People have been bullshitting us everywhere we go. I hafta put up with little freaks like you _constantly_! Some damn bastard's got my Marlene, an' I won't hesitate to shoot your fat blobby head off if you don't tell me how to find her. So _talk_, dammit!"

Sweat dripped down the man's face, and he quivered in Barret's grip. "You…you must mean the _MIDGAR Zolom_," he stuttered. "M…my mistake. B…b…but it's a p, private ship. I c…can't give out information about….about…"

Barret raised his gun-arm so it was just level with the man's face. He twisted his hold on the collar slightly, just enough so the man would have trouble breathing. "You sure 'bout that?"

"Y, y, y….no. It's a ship that belonged originally to Shinra, Inc. It-" Suddenly the man started to convulse in Barret's grip. Froth gathered at his mouth. He screamed, and then his eyes rolled back in his head and he went limp.

Barret dropped him, shock evident on his face. "The hell…?"

Cloud bent over the dead man, ripping open his collar. "Look." 

A blackened tattoo was burned into the skin at the base of the man's throat. The tattoo was shaped like an "F" with a long bottom.

£

Cloud touched it and immediately yanked his hand away. The tattoo felt white-hot.

Nanaki went over to look at it, then shook his head. "Someone doesn't want me to find him."

"What do you mean?" asked Cloud as he stood. Nanaki turned his head to look at him. 

"This is an ancient symbol that declares absolute silence," he said slowly. "When someone puts this mark on his underlings, they can't reveal anything. Or else…" He glanced back to the body on the deck.

Cloud shuddered, then shook his head. "No help here."

"Well, what do we do now?" Barret demanded.

Cloud rubbed his head wearily. "We need to think of a new plan. Let's get back to the sub."

As they marched across the deck back to the sub, Adine pulled on Tifa's hand.

"Tifa."

"What is it, Adine?" She smiled tiredly. 

"Did Mr. Barret say Marlene?"

"Yes. Marlene's his daughter. Why?" Tifa's red-brown eyes scrutinized her intently.

"Because…because…" Adine faltered. "I met a girl named Marlene-"

"You did?!" Barret's head snapped around. "What'd she look like?"

Frightened by Barret's harsh gaze, Adine stayed silent. 

"I _said_ what'd she-"

"Barret!" Tifa interrupted. "Let me handle this." She knelt and looked carefully at Adine. "Okay, now what did Marlene look like?"

"She…she had short dark hair…and…was wearing a pink dress…"

"That's her! That's Marlene!" Barret shouted.

"When did you last see her?" Tifa asked.

"It was...before I was on the ship. My mommy and Daddy and me were here, in Junon. We were standing by some alleyway…or something. Mommy and Daddy were talking. I was just sitting, bored, when the street cover- for the sewer, I think- moved. And these men came out. Daddy was looking angry, like maybe he was mad at them. Then they started yelling at each other. Mommy was staying with me, when another man came into the alley. He had…dark brown hair, and...scary eyes."

__

Kralin, I wonder? Tifa thought. 

Adine went on. "He was dragging a girl with him. The man saw us and put her down. He stayed in the entrance of the alley so we couldn't get away. Marlene and I were bored so we started talking. She told me she had been taken from a place called 'Correl." But then, one of the men took out…a gun. And Daddy started shouting something, and there were these loud noises. And…then…Daddy was bleeding…and Mommy was screaming…and there were more loud noises…and I got scared. I tried to run past the man in the alley, but he grabbed my hair. Then Marlene picked something off the ground…a rock, I think…and threw it at the man. He let me go and I ran."

There was silence for a long moment. At last, gently, Tifa said, "And how'd you end up on the ship?"

Adine's voice was flat. "I was tired. There was a cart, with some soft rags on it. I laid down, and fell asleep. When I woke up I was alone on that ship."

Tifa put her arms around the small girl, hugging her close. The child was an orphan, all alone in a strange world. It was in that moment that Tifa decided she would defend Adine with her life.

"So…" Cloud said. "Think we can find this alley she described?"

Tifa looked up, realization dawning on her face. "Of course…" she said slowly. Then she repeated it. "Of _course_!"

Cloud smiled and helped her up. "Let's go."

Chapter 12

Elena dodged to the side as a laser beam of energy shot past her. She instantly launched a counterattack, trusting Rude to guard her back.

The two Turks were standing back-to-back in the midst of at least a dozen androids. A few minutes ago a loudspeaker had announced Vincent was "urgently needed".

"Reno must've been discovered," Rude said out of the side of his mouth.

"I'm more worried about us!" she snapped as she worked up the strength to cast Bolt 3 again.

Nothing happened.

Elena swore. She was too tired to use materia anymore. She would have to resort to using physical attacks. She yanked her gun out of its holster and started firing. "Rude, the only way we'll get out of this is a miracle!"

Rude said nothing, just concentrated on his guy. He noticed a weakness, a kind of sluggishness in the android's left side. Taking advantage of this, he moved in from that side and shot.

After a few seconds of steady firing, the machine stopped functioning. Rude was ready to attack the man inside when he heard Elena scream.

Stealing a quick glance behind himself while shooting at the same time, he saw Elena had fallen and was now at the mercy of her opponent.

Leaping forward, he began shooting fiercely. He had only shot about ten bullets when he heard a click. 

Rude groaned inwardly. The cartridge was empty.

Suddenly more bullets were fired. But they weren't from Rude. Startled, he turned.

Barret was firing. Behind him stood Cloud, Cid, Yuffie and Nanaki. Tifa was busy casting a magic spell. She extended her arms outward, concentrating on her lightning materia, then thrust them forward. A bolt of lightning extended from the sky and short-circuited the machine. When the man inside jumped out, Nanaki rushed forward and tore out his throat in a violence uncharacteristic of his humble demeanor. 

Within minutes all of the androids had been destroyed. 

Elena, who had climbed to her feet, heaved a sigh of relief. "I can't tell you guys how just in time you are."

"Yeah, well, you can thank us by telling us what you hoped to gain by coming here on your own!" Cloud snapped.

Elena looked at Rude. Rude rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"We…uh…that is…we…wanted to surprise you?" he tried. Cloud glowered.

Tifa intervened before an argument could erupt. "Where's Reno?"

"Went to find Aeris," Rude shrugged. "Vincent was here too, but he took off."

"Hm," Cloud said, thinking. "We should see if we can find Reno and Aeris. Then we can all get the hell out of here." He started down the hall to the right.

"Wait!" Rude said, stopping him. "There's one thing you should know. Kralin isn't the guy behind all this. He has a boss."

"Who?"

"Professor Hojo. Somehow…he must've survived."

"So now Vincent's pretending to work for him?" Tifa frowned. "Vincent would never do that. Not for Hojo."

"He would if he thought it would help destroy him," Cloud replied. "Come on, we're wasting time."

He was about to go down the hall when again he stopped. Tifa placed a hand on his shoulder, her eyes serious.

"Cloud…" she said hesitantly. "Maybe…you should stay here."

He looked at her incredulously. "Why?"

She turned to Barret. "Barret, didn't Vincent say this was all a trap? That they're luring Cloud here? We're walking right into this."

Barret nodded. "Yeah, that's what he said."

"Yeah, but…" Cloud couldn't think of anything to say.

Tifa eyed Barret, Cid, Yuffie and Nanaki. "And you guys better stay too. I don't like the looks of those collar-things."

"No way!" Cid protested. "You guys need us!" 

Yuffie shook her head. "No, Tifa. Sometimes the only way out of a trap is to step right into it."

Surprised at this display of insight from Yuffie, of all people, Tifa asked, "Where'd you learn that, Yuffie?"

"One of the things being a thief taught me," she said mysteriously. Then she turned back into the old Yuffie, and ran down the hall. "Let's go!"

They followed her down the hall. Tifa looked at Cloud as they walked. "Hojo's behind this, then?"

"It seems so," he answered. "We'll have to stay on our guard. Maybe he doesn't know we're here yet. Maybe-"

He was interrupted by an earsplitting yell. "Tifa! Cloud! Come look at this!" 

Tifa raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure he knows now."

They went over to see what the excited teenager was pointing at. "Check this out!"

She was pointing at a large flat floor. A rope crept up through a hole in it, went up for about ten feet, curved over a pulley then went back down through another hole. 

"What the hell is that?" Cid questioned.

"It appears to be some sort of makeshift elevator," Nanaki answered. He put out a paw and tested the weight. "It should hold all of us."

"Let's try it." Cloud stepped on. Yuffie followed, as did Tifa, Cid, Nanaki and Barret. The elevator descended downward, into darkness.

"I can't _see_!" Yuffie said, annoyed. "Red?"

"Why would I be able to see any better than you?" he asked.

"No, I mean, can you swing your tail over this way? I need light."

In the darkness, Nanaki's tail glowed like fire.

"Be careful!" Elena cried as Yuffie leaned over the side.

"You're one to talk, Elena," Rude muttered, remembering the boat. 

"Yuffie!" The young Ninja had fallen over the side. However, she only fell three feet before hitting the ground.

"You're lucky," Cloud growled. "Be more careful next time."

"Fine!" Yuffie sniffed. "Grouch."

"Where are we?" Tifa asked.

"It sure is dark, wherever it is." Elena commented.

"Hey," Cloud said as inspiration struck him. "You think this is a-"

Before he could get out the word "trap", the lights flared on.

They were in a laboratory. Machines beeped along the scrubbed white walls. A steel lab table was in the center of the room.

"What the-" Cid began, but the curse was cut short as Hojo stepped into view. 

"Welcome to my humble home," the grotesque form sneered. "You may not find it that interesting, but I believe together we can make it more than a little exciting."

"You friggin'-" Barret let loose a string of profanity with an originality that rivaled Cid's. "Where the hell's Marlene?! What'd you do with her?!"

The simpering smirk grew wider. "Do make an attempt to control yourself, Mr. Wallace. I assure you, I have not harmed your daughter. However…when I'm through with you, I don't think you'll care." With that, he twisted a dial he held in his gnarled hands.

Instantly the collar around Barret's neck burned into his skin like a red-hot wire. He grunted and tried to break it off, but the metal scorched his fingers. He fell to his knees. He could dimly discern Yuffie, Cid and Nanaki all writhing, each fighting the pain in their own way.

"Barret!" Tifa kneeled by him. "What's wrong?"

Barret's eyes were cinched shut in pain. He tried to speak, to talk to Tifa, but he couldn't get any words out.

Taking full advantage of the confusion, Hojo leapt forward with surprising nimbleness for a man of his age. Grabbing hold of the stunned Cloud, he emptied a syringe full of a clear liquid into the blond man's neck.

"HEY! What…what are…" was all Cloud could get out before sinking to the floor.

"CLOUD!" Tifa screamed, springing forward.

"You! Pilot!" Hojo snapped at Cid. "Restrain her!"

Though his face was red with the effort of controlling his own body, Cid was forced to do as he was told. Tifa started when he roughly grabbed hold of her. She struggled, but he held her fast.

Realizing the situation, Rude and Elena ran for the exit. But a quick order from Hojo stopped them.

"Get them!"

Barret roughly looped an arm around Rude's neck, holding him in a headlock. Rude fought to get loose, but the bigger man was too strong.

Elena was in the same predicament. She had realized at once that no plea would shake the control Hojo had over Yuffie and Nanaki, and fought viciously, kicking Yuffie in the stomach and breaking to get out. But Nanaki had intercepted her escape by gracefully leaping onto her back. She had screamed at the feel of those sharp claws, and Yuffie had twisted her hands behind her back and drove her knee in her spine. Now she was also trapped.

"Tie them up," Hojo snapped, throwing them a few coils of rope. He turned his attention back to Tifa. "Not to worry, Miss Lockheart. I haven't killed him. Goodness, no! Not when I worked so hard to get him into my possession…"

The scientist first grabbed Cloud's heavy sword and threw it into a corner of the room. Then he managed to lift Cloud's prone body onto the lab table. Tifa's eyes widened.

__

He has to be much stronger than he looks, she thought nervously. _Must be the Jenova cells._

"What are you going to do to him?" she asked.

"You saw the way Jenova affected this failed experiment" Hojo said. He linked his hands behind his back and stared up at the ceiling. "Each time Jenova issued an order, he had to obey it. Occasionally some interference from others would stop him, but for the most part he did what Jenova wanted. The end result of the action of Sephiroth, him, and the hundreds of other Sephiroth clones was fantastic! I've been thinking…if all that could happen when a human is injected with Jenova cells…what would happen if Jenova is injected with human cells? Imagine the _possibilities_!" Droplets of spit flecked out of his mouth as he uttered the last sentence. Tifa recoiled against Cid in horror and disgust.

"You're mad," she whispered, her voice cracking.

Hojo raised an eyebrow at her. 

"You're mad! You're insane, psychotic! You can't just keep hurting people like this! Human life is far more important than some petty experiment!" Her voice lowered. "Let us go!"

"Oh, really." Hojo sighed, seemingly bored. "I'm afraid I won't be able to do that just yet. I have to begin my experiment." With that, he pulled on a pair of rubber gloves. "Originally I wanted Sephiroth, but since AVALANCHE intervened…I've had to improvise."

"What are you going to do to Cloud?!" she yelped.

Hojo sneered at her. "I'm not quite sure just yet…maybe probe around in his brain a bit, collect some samples…of course, I can't do anything but collect the materials now. I still need that Ancient for the rest." At this, he sniggered softly, as though at a private joke.

"No!" She struggled fiercely against Cid, who held her like he was nothing more than a robot.

"Frankly, there's nothing you can do. It's out of your hands."

"We'll see about that," Tifa muttered. She took a deep breath. _I'm sorry, Cid, I really am, _she pleaded mentally. Then she quickly reached up, grabbed Cid's cigarette out of his mouth, and jabbed the burning end into the hand holding onto her. Cid let out a yell and released her. 

"Stop her!" Hojo screamed.

Cid raced after her, but Rude finally managed to break free of Barret and tackled the pilot, throwing them both to the ground.

Spotting a door, Tifa opened it and raced out, thinking to herself, _I will help you, Cloud. I will!_


	6. Default Chapter Title

Chapter 13

Aeris blinked and lifted her head. 

What had happened?

She remembered crawling into the grate. She remembered a loud noise, confusion. She supposed she must have blacked out after that.

Something wet dripped down her face. She put a hand to her temple and found blood. She must have banged her head in those last dizzying moments.

"Reno?" Where was he?

She heard him move a few feet away. He was sitting up, rubbing his shoulder in obvious discomfort, but otherwise unharmed.

"You all right?" She asked.

"Yeah. But that dirty bastard won't be once I get ahold of him," he muttered through clenched teeth. 

She tuned him out and took a look at their surroundings. They appeared to be in a narrow tunnel. It was so dark she could barely see in front of her. The walls were damp with mildew and she could feel a faint breeze coming from somewhere.

"Reno!" she hissed, interrupting his angry mutterings. "Are we in the air vent?"

"Well, yeah," he said as though it was obvious. "We should be able to get out from here. Come on." He began leading the way, looking for a grate leading to the outside.

"Reno…" Aeris hesitated. "What happened to Kralin?"

"Huh?" He didn't glance at her crawling behind him.

"Did the explosion kill him?"

He sighed. "Doubt it. Hate to say it, but the guy's not stupid. He knew what he was doing, all right."

Aeris lapsed into silence. The tunnel was small and cramped, making it hard to crawl. She had to keep close behind Reno for fear of losing him in the low light. Apparently he was used to this sort of thing, for she had to work to keep up with him.

Perturbed at her odd silence, he glanced back at her. "You worried 'bout somethin'?"

"No-I-what do you mean?"

Taking this to mean yes, Reno said, "You don't have anything to be worried about. We're in the vents. We're almost out. Just leave the rest up to me from here."

"What about the others?" she asked.

He turned a corner. Aeris marveled at his sense of direction. She supposed it must have been part of his training as a Turk.

As a matter of fact, that wasn't the only part of his training. Besides the physical part, learning how to fight, to move quickly, to shoot accurately, there was also the "Turk Code." It was very unofficial, but always taken seriously by the Turks.

Part of that code involved hostages. As Shinra had lots of enemies in the old days, they were always rescuing hostages and such. But it was first priority the hostages weren't harmed. Nothing, including the safety of fellow Turks, mattered.

Reno had learned to respect this code. And damned if he was going to let go of it, along with everything else, now.

"They'll get out themselves," he growled. "We agreed to get you out first."

Aeris stopped, stared. "Reno, we can't just leave them here! This place is dangerous! They could be in trouble-"

He pretended he didn't hear her and began working on opening a new grate. It seemed harder from the inside.

"-and are you listening, Reno? We need to find them right now and-"

He studied it carefully. There had to be some kind of trick…

"-that Kralin guy finds them, they could be in serious-"

Shrugging, he leaned back, swept Aeris aside, and drove his foot through the gate. It burst outward at the impact.

"All right," he said, pleased that he had succeeded _and_ Aeris had shut up. (She could be like Elena that way.) "Climb through."

Aeris glared, knowing he had not listened to a thing she had said, but slipped through. She fell a few feet, then landed on cool earth. Reno landed on all fours beside her, then straightened. 

"Okay, let's go," he said. "Stay behind me." 

Feeling annoyed at being treated like a child, she opened her mouth to retaliate, but he pushed her into the shadows of the building. He put a finger to his lips. "Shhh."

Aeris fell quiet. Seconds later, a knot of guards came around the corner of the building, talking quietly.

"Mr. Kralin said they escaped through the air vent," said one man. He was licking his lips as he spoke, and glancing around fearfully, as though the Turk and the Ancient might appear at any second. "So they've got to be around somewhere. Everyone, keep your eyes peeled. He wants security extra tight. They don't escape, get me? We capture them, or else."

"So what's the deal with them?" A man with an attitude problem wanted to know. "Why does he want them so badly? Just some punk with a flashy stick and a wimpy little girl."

"That 'flashy stick' does a lot of damage," admonished a third man. "You shoulda seen that guy he killed. He looked- like he'd been playing tug-o-war with a live wire. His hair was standing all on end, an' he smelled like burnt meat, for Chrissakes! The guy's dangerous."

There were murmurs. Aeris looked stricken. She stared at Reno, who shrugged as though to say, "Who cares?"

"And who knows, the third guard continued. "The girl may have powers of her own. She is an Ancient, after all."

Reno's foot had fallen asleep. He moved it slightly to ease the cramp.

"What was that?!" The first guard looked up.

"Ooh, it's the scary stick," the second guard laughed. "Coming to get you now, Hank."

"I know I heard something." Hank started toward them. Aeris and Reno pressed as tight as they could against the wall.

"Come on, Hank," the third guard called. "We have work to do." 

"But, Aaron," Hank protested. "What if-"

"Hank. You're such a damn scardey-cat you'd shoot yourself if you really found them."

Reno smirked. 

"Reno…" Aeris whispered as loudly as she dared. "I'm going to sneeze."

"Hold it!"

Aeris didn't answer, but the expression on her face showed she was trying. It was actually kind of funny, but Reno didn't dare laugh.

"Hank, you're wasting our time," Aaron was saying. 

"All right, already," Hank muttered. "Never MIND I was doing my job." He started away.

Then Aeris sneezed.

Instantly the guards swarmed over. Seeing they were discovered, Reno leapt out from behind the crate and yanked out his rod.

That made them hesitate. In that second Reno moved to Aaron and jabbed his rod in his middle. Aaron doubled over in agony. Then Reno dove to the ground in anticipation of the oncoming bullets as the guards recovered from their shock.

None came.

Warily Reno climbed to her feet. He caught sight of Aeris, with her hands stretched out in front of her and her eyes closed. "Aeris? May I ask what you are doing?"

She opened her eyes. "Look."

It was then he saw the guards. They were frozen in time, unblinking, unmoving. He shuddered at the unnaturalness of it. _Has to be some Cetra thing,_ he thought. _Creepy…_

"What was that about me staying behind you?" she said sweetly. Reno, whose eyes were popping out, shook his head. Then he pulled out his gun and began firing.

"Stop! What are you doing?!" Aeris caught his arm, but it was too late. The guards who had once been living, breathing men were now bleeding dead on the ground.

He pulled away. "It was necessary." He saw her face and his harsh gaze softened. "If I let them live, they would have reported back to Kralin," he explained. "And we can't have that."

Unaccustomed to such untamed cruelty, Aeris said, "But-" then stopped. He would not listen to her, and there was nothing she could do for the men now. "What makes you so sure?" she asked instead.

He shrugged. "I'm not. But it's standard Turk procedure."

She stared. "News flash, Reno. _You're not a Turk anymore_."

"I know that," he said uncomfortably. "I guess…for a while I thought I was. It seems so much like the old days."

Aeris was half-sympathetic, half-horrified. "You killed a lot of people as a Turk," she said quietly.

"Are you surprised?" His voice was sharp, angry.

"N-no…I just never thought about it." She sank into a disturbed silence.

Reno took advantage of this to start walking. "Let's get moving." Aeris glanced back once at the torn bodies, then hurried after him.

They were skirting around the corner of the building when they heard a shot. Several guards were rushing toward them.

"Shit," Reno muttered in an undertone. He looked at Aeris. "We're going to have to blast our way out. Can you shoot?"

"I…I never…"

"Okay. Trigger's here, safety's here, sight's here. Just point the end -no, _this_ end, it's where the bullets come out- at whatever you want to kill, then shoot."

The metal felt cold and unfamiliar to her touch. She fumbled to hold it correctly. 

"Okay. It'll be tough, but we have no choice." The men were closing in. Reno started forward when Aeris grabbed his arm.

"I don't want to do this!" she pleaded. The thought of killing all those people sickened her. Sure, she had done her share of killing in AVALANCHE, but never human life. That was something she respected and valued. If a human got in her way, the most she would do was knock him unconscious.

__

And yet you were willing to let others do the dirty work for you, whispered a devious voice inside of her. She ignored it. "Isn't there another way?"

"Face the facts, Aeris," he said coldly. "They'll kill you unless you kill them." He glanced uneasily at the approaching guards. They were almost within shooting range.

"But there's too many! We'll never make it!"

"We don't have another option. And I don't have time to be arguing with you! Come on!" He tried to go, but she held fast to his arm.

"There _is_ a way," she insisted. "Look!" She pointed to a rickety old ladder leaning against the side of the building. Without waiting to see if he'd follow, she started up it.

Reno was going to shout after her, but a bullet hitting the wall close to his head desisted any further argument. He hurried after her.

They made it to the rooftop. Once there, they pushed the ladder away from the building to discourage anyone following. Aeris heaved a sigh of relief.

"Thank God."

"Ah, right on time, my friends," an ominously familiar voice greeted. "As I knew you would be."

Aeris whirled around, then gasped in horror at the sight of Kralin. Involuntarily she stepped backward, and Reno had to grab on to her to prevent her falling off the edge of the roof.

"Heh, heh…frightened of me, m'dear?" he simpered.

"What do you want?" she quelled.

"Yeah!" Reno shouted. "Aeris was bait, and you got what you wanted. So what do _you_ care if she escapes? Or if I do, for that matter?" 

Kralin shrugged. "I'm afraid it's not that simple. " He took a step toward them.

"How so?" Reno questioned, stepping casually between him and Aeris. He wondered if he could get a shot in quickly enough, then remembered Aeris had the gun.

"Well…it's a long story, but all right." Kralin crossed his arms over his chest and looked up at the sky, choosing his words. "See, Professor Hojo has always had this 'thing' for Jenova cells. He'd prattle _on_ and _on_ about how damn useful they are, how he just had to unlock the secret, blah, blah, blah." He rolled his eyes. "It got to be _really_ boring. Of course, I don't have any obsessions, so I'm labeled 'abnormal' in Hojo's eyes…go figure. Anyway, you know all about Jenova, don't you, girl?" He fixed his piercing green eyes on Aeris.

"Yes, I do," she said quietly. "Jenova, or the 'Crisis from the Sky' as we call it, was the cause of death for my people. Jenova killed the Cetra."

He applauded her. "Bravo! I've never heard it summed up all neat like that. 'Course, the only teacher I've had is Hojo, and Lord knows _he_ tends to ramble…however, back to the point. Jenova was at last defeated by your ancestors, am I right?" She didn't bother answering. "I thought so," he praised himself. "Well, Hojo doesn't like that."

__

Keep him talking, Reno thought. "What? That you think you're right?"

"No. The fact that it can be defeated. Hojo thinks Jenova should be invincible, as the true master of the Planet. Cloud, the failed experiment, was the only one of the Sephiroth-clones to survive. Except, of course, for-" Quickly Kralin stopped, cleared his throat, then went on. "I mean he was the strongest of the surviving clones. Hojo doesn't know what made him so strong, but he's gonna find out. He's gonna take Cloud's DNA and insert in Jenova itself. _That_ will solve any problems!" Kralin grinned at having finally spilled the beans. 

"Who was the other-" Aeris began, but Reno cut her off. 

"I don't give a damn bout none of that crap!" he growled. "What the hell does this have to do with Aeris?"

Kralin scratched his head. "Hate to break this to you, Reno, I mean knowing how fond you are of her and all, but she's got something we need. Know what it is?"

Blank stares were all he received.

Kralin sighed and shook his head. "I _did_ expect better of you two. Okay, I'll give you a hint. Jenova won't exactly wake up on its own. It'll take raw power to do that. Guess what has the biggest source of power?" He leered at Aeris.

She nodded, understanding. "You want the power of Holy to work for you."

"There, you see?" Kralin looked appraisingly at Reno. "It's so good you're hanging around with her, Reno. Maybe she'll teach you to _think_ for a change."

"Is that all?" Reno demanded.

The chestnut-haired man pondered. "Well…no. I suppose not." He favored them with a grin. "You ain't gonna like this one. You see, Professor Hojo has kindly promised me a reward for all my hard work."

"_What_?" 

"The girl, once he is finished with her." He looked Aeris up and down, and smiled. "I would say I'm getting a fine bargain."

Aeris turned scarlet. "You're sick!" she cried. Kralin shrugged.

"What can I say? I was born in a laboratory, raised in a laboratory, and will most likely die in a laboratory. I'm just another experiment myself. Yet I still carry most of the usual…male instincts."

If Aeris could have moved any further back without falling off the edge of the roof, she would have run far, far away without looking back. As it was, however, she was disgusted.

"Okay, I've had enough of this little game," Kralin yawned. "Ready to die, Reno?"

"I'll tell ya who's gonna die!" Reno roared. Aeris held him back as he shook a fist at the man. This was neither the time nor the place for a fight.

But Kralin, apparently, thought it was. With a sneer he leaped forward and shot straight at Reno.

Chapter 14

Tifa ran down a winding hallway, searching desperately for something, someone who could help her. Maybe Reno and Aeris were down here. Maybe…

She slowed at the sight of a new door. She didn't know whether to open it or continue down the hall. This place was like a maze!

Deciding on the door, she grabbed hold of the handle and pulled. At first it wouldn't open and she feared it was locked- then realized in her anxiety she had failed to notice it was the kind of door that opened inward. She took a deep breath to calm herself. She would not be able to help Cloud by losing control. Reno and Aeris were missing, maybe even dead, and Vincent…who knew where Vincent was? He always seemed so aloof, and strange, almost sinister.

At any rate, Cloud was depending on her. And by God, she would not give up. Not when Cloud needed her. 

She pushed open the door.

At first glance she thought it was empty. It was pitch black, but a soft glow drew her attention. Wondering what it was, she walked toward it. She was moving more slowly now, not because she was less worried about Cloud but because she was nervous. She banged her hip on a table that had been obscured by the darkness. Letting out a yelp of pain and muttering under her breath, she limped toward the source of light. At least then she'd be able to see.

The glow was a liquid. A large glass canister, perhaps eight feet high, was filled to the brim with it. It was then she recognized the liquid. It was mako.

But that wasn't the strangest thing about the liquid. The strangest thing was the man floating inside. 

Tifa gasped and took an involuntary step back. A human test subject! She wanted to run back to Hojo and ram a microscope down his throat. But of course that wouldn't be sensible.

The man in the vial was completely naked. His eyes were closed, and his black hair hung limply in front of his face. On closer inspection, Tifa felt she had seen this man somewhere before.

Suddenly she remembered…

__

A man, laying near death on the ground. Numerous bullet wounds marred his body and he was unconscious. Still, he was alive.

Tifa had found him just outside of Midgar and taken pity on him. Anyone else might have written the man off for dead, but Tifa had used her Restore materia to heal his wounds as much as she could. When he had regained consciousness, she had hoped he might be able to tell her who he was, but he couldn't seem to get any sensible words out. She had contemplated. She didn't have a place of her own back then, she had been boarding at an inn. She had no money for him, and he obviously was insane. She would have to leave him.

But Tifa never ignored a cry for help. Deciding to at least find a place where the man could rest, she had helped him to a place in Sector 5. An elderly couple said they could keep an eye on him. 

Now Tifa saw this was the same man. Professor Hojo must have found him and decided to use him for some vile experiment. In a moment of grim determination, she grabbed a metal chain and swung it at the glass vial.

The glass shattered. Warm liquid mako rushed out, and the young man fell on top of Tifa, knocking her over. Shoving him off her, she felt his neck for a pulse. It was there, faint, but there. 

She was starting to do wonder what she should do when the man stirred and opened his eyes. They were a startlingly bright blue, the color of summer skies. He appeared conscious but too groggy to fully understand what was happening. 

A sudden noise behind Tifa startled her. She whirled around to catch sight of an identical man, armed with a large sword. A terrible burn ran along one arm, and he was clutching his shoulder.

"What the…" Tifa looked from one man to the other. They looked identical!

"Stand aside," the new man order.

"Who…who are you?" she blurted. The man appeared to sway slightly, and leaned against the wall for support. Tifa noted grimly that it would be fairly easy to overpower him if she needed to. 

"My name is Zack," he began. "I am an attempted clone of Sephiroth. After he was defeated, Hojo caught up to me and captured me. I was weak. I couldn't get away." He was silent for a moment, then went on. "It was then he started cloning me, using exact copies of my DNA to make more of me. Then he would speed up the growth process of my clones by keeping them in mako-filled tubes. He planned to rise to power again, using my clones as flunkies. Finally, I used the confusion of your arrival to escape. I've been on the run, and destroying every clone I can."

Tifa looked dubious at this story, then remembered something about Cloud. He had mentioned a Zack, hadn't he? And then she remembered…Nibelheim…

Smothering the gasp that flared up inside of her, Tifa stepped back. SOLDIER…Zack…Cloud…Sephiroth…the man in the pipe…

__

This was the man that had really been in SOLDIER, Cloud's best friend. _This _was the man she had rescued, about a year ago. _This _was Aeris' former boyfriend, not the man Reno had shot on the island. He must have been a clone.

A quick glance at his hand proved the truth. Clearly outlined against the fair skin, a black number "2" seemed to laugh, as though enjoying a quiet joke.

While Tifa let this sink in, Zack leapt forward. She ducked aside as he raised his sword. But he was not looking at her. With a deft movement, he brought the sword down, severing the neck tendons of the clone on the floor. Tifa looked away from the gruesome onslaught of blood. 

Zack moved away from the body, his own face haggard and tired. He staggered as he moved closer to her.

"Come on. You're looking for a way out, right? I know about an exit-"

"Wait!" Tifa cried. "I don't want to leave- not just yet. I need to save…Cloud and the others…"

Zack's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Cloud's here? Cloud…Strife?"

"Yes," she said impatiently. "Hojo's got him, and I need to stop him from-"

He grasped her wrist and tugged her to the door. "Explain on the way. It might already be too late."

******

Reno didn't have time to think. Luckily, he didn't have to.

He ducked down and yanked out his rod. With lightning-fast speed he stuck the rod out in front of him. The bullet hit it and ricocheted away, nearly hitting Kralin in the face.

There was a long moment of stillness, in which the two men stared at each other, sizing one another up. Aeris, forgotten, looked around frantically. There was no escape! Kralin stood in front of them, barring their way, and the roof was only a few feet behind them.

Then Reno charged. It was a totally unexpected attack, Kralin was sure not to have his gun up in time-

Then he was blocked! There was a searing shock down his right arm, and he broke off, aghast. Kralin coolly blew a tiny curl of smoke off the end of the nightstick in his hand.

"You-"

"You aren't the only one who can handle these nifty little things," Kralin said as he twirled his own rod in his fingers. "Did you really think you were that special?"

Reno lunged again with his rod. Kralin parried, then turned that parry into a thrust. Reno stepped back, then flipped a special switch on his rod. 

"Turk light!" he murmured. But Kralin had cast the same spell. The twin beams of energy smashed into each other, sending both men stumbling backward. 

Taking advantage of the confusion, Aeris aimed her gun. Where should she shoot? Not the head…she recalled how the man Reno had shot had looked. No, she wouldn't kill him…just maim him. She aimed for the shoulder.

The shot rang out. Aeris almost fell off the roof at the kickback. Both of the men turned their heads sharply to see the bullet whiz by Kralin, not even close to hitting him.

"You MISSED?!" Reno sounded incredulous.

Kralin stepped toward her, smirking. "You shouldn't play with guns, you know. Might hurt somebody. Why don't you let me have that?"

Aeris brought the gun up to shoot at him again, but only a click sounded when she pulled the trigger. She realized in horror: She had forgotten to reload!

Reno rushed forward, but in his haste forgot to be cautious. Kralin socked him twice in the stomach with his free fist. Reno fell to his knees, then let out a gasp as he was hit sharply on the head with Kralin's rod. He fell and laid still.

"Now shaddup and mind your own business," Kralin instructed him. He turned to Aeris again. Desperately she pulled the trigger again and again, as though hoping it would suddenly work. Grabbing her roughly, Kralin gave her that hateful smirk. "Looks like your time's run out."

Aeris realized an emotion she's never felt before- hatred. Hatred for this man and what he was doing to her, hatred for this whole stupid fight. Reno was right: There were just some people who deserved to die.

With a loud scream of outrage, she conked Kralin on the head as hard as she could with the empty gun. He let out a curse and released her. She did it again, slamming the gun into his face. Ignoring the pain, he grabbed it out of her hands.

"That was the last straw," he growled. "I want no more resistance from you, understand?!"

"Does that rule apply to me, also?" 

Kralin whirled around only to meet Reno's fist- hard. He stumbled back and fell. 

"Glad to see _you_ shut up," Reno remarked. 

Focusing blearily up at them, Kralin climbed to his feet. "You haven't beat me yet…"

"No?" Reno picked up the fallen gun and handed it back to Aeris. "Here, you finish the job."

With a kind of grim smile on her face, Aeris slammed the butt end of it into Kralin's head. He went limp.

"Nice," Reno praised her. "Who knows, you might make a good Turk some day."

"I'll make a better one if we get out of here," she replied. She glanced around the roof. There were two large helicopters with the Shinra logo on the side. Looking up, she saw a large hole cut into the cavern ceiling. Apparently the helicopters exited through there.

Seeing the look on Reno's face, Aeris shook her head violently. "Oh, no."

"Oh, yes," he grinned. He started toward one of the helicopters. 

Hurrying after him, Aeris protested," But do you even know how to fly one of those things?"

"No," he shrugged. "But I'm sure I can figure it out."

"Reno, from what I've heard, you can't even drive a car safely."

"Who said this was going to be safe?" Opening the driver's door, he slipped into the pilot's seat.

"But this is more Cid's kind of thing," Aeris insisted, slipping into the seat beside him. "Shouldn't we go back and get him?"

"You wanna get out of here or not?" Discovering an interesting-looking button, he pressed it. Instantly the blades started whirring. Reno cheered.

"Yeah! We got POWER!"

Hastily Aeris buckled her seatbelt.

"Okay," Reno mused. "Now if I know anything about chopper controls-"

"Which you don't!" Aeris interjected.

"-I'd say THIS is the clutch."

Dispite Aeris' vehement protest ("I'm pretty sure helicopters don't HAVE clutches!") he was right. The copter started to rise.

"What are all these little dials for?" Reno grumbled, staring at the dashboard. "A man can't tell how fast he's rising…ah, here it is. Okay, let's speed up." He yanked back a random lever, causing the chopper to tilt sharply.

"It's okay, it's okay, I got it!" He yelled over Aeris' screaming. "I can handle this!"

"Like hell you can!"

"That's odd. I didn't know you swore."

"Only when I'm scared to death!"

The helicopter rose steadily through the opening in the cavern. And, clinging to tail of the chopper with amazing strength, the phantom in a black suit chuckled to himself.

******

Cloud stirred groggily and opened his eyes. What was going on?

He was strapped to a lab table in the center of a laboratory. The small of mako, of equipment, of unknown chemicals hung heavily in the air. The lights were bright…too bright.

It all brought back memories…of being stuck in that first laboratory with Zack. Cloud felt a sudden giddy rush of terror overwhelm him at the thought he was back in that awful place.

Elena's voice pierced through his consciousness. "Cloud! Wake UP!"

Then Rude's voice: "It's no use, Elena."

"We have to get out of here! CLOUD!"

"Enough!" Hojo snapped. "I'm losing my patience with you, girl. One more peep out of you and it'll be you on the lab table."

"Bite me!" She snarled.

Confused memories swirled in Cloud's hear. Hojo…Zack…Elena…what was she doing here?

Unable to comprehend what was happening, Cloud gave a low moan. Hojo immediately hurried over to him.

"Ah, I see you're awake, my specimen. I'm going to have a lot of fun with you."

"What's…happening…?" he got out.

Hojo rubbed his hands together in glee. "You'll see. Oh, you'll see."

"Cloud!" Elena screeched. "You have to get out of there!"

Get out of here? Why bother? He was tired…so tired…

"Others…" he mumbled.

"Hm?" Hojo leaned close to hear.

"Where are the others?"

"They're all here," Hojo cackled. "Except for that girl…what was her name? Lockheart, I believe. Yes, Ms. Lockheart ran off."

Lockheart…Tifa Lockheart…it came back to him. He struggled fiercely against the bonds, but they held him fast to the table. He looked up at Hojo. "What are you going to do to me?!"

"Just a little research. You got away from me for a while, you know. I have a lot to catch up on."

"My sword…"

"It's over there. But I daresay you won't need it when I'm through with you." Hojo gave a low chuckle, then leaned forward. "Want to know why? Because _I am going to find out your secret._" His sinister smile changed to a frown. He leaned even close. Cloud could feel the scientist's hot breath on his face.

"How can you be so strong? How? You, a failed experiment, weren't even given a number. And yet, not only are you the only successful Sephiroth clone, but you overcame all obstacles to participate in the reunion! _Why_?!"

Hojo was so close now that Cloud could see his eyes behind his spectacles. They held more than a glimmer of insanity in them, but that was counterbalanced by the cold intelligence and ruthlessness apparent there. The scientist's tongue flicked out over his crack lips, as though he wanted to devour the answer to this perplexing riddle.

"I will find out your secret, Cloud Strife," Hojo whispered. "I will take you DNA and give it to Jenova, and Jenova will finally have what it deserves: Invulnerability! And then, I will have what _I_ deserve: _POWER_!"

"The only thing you deserve is a straitjacket!" Elena called from where she was tied up.

Cloud looked for her and the others. Rude was being held back by Barret, as even tied up he was still dangerous. Cloud blinked in disbelief. "Barret?"

The big man didn't answer. 

Elena was being held in an even more uncomfortable position. Yuffie had shoved her onto her back and was kneeling on her, driving one knee into her spine. Nanaki watched closely from nearby.

"Yuffie, what are you doing?" Cloud cried.

"She won't respond," growled Elena from her position on the floor. "It's like she's…a robot, or something! I think it's those collars Hojo's got around their necks. He's controlling them!"

"Silence!" Hojo stepped back into view. He was holding a large syringe in one hand. "Let us begin the experiment."

"No!" Desperately Elena struggled against the teenager holding her down, but it was useless. Yuffie seemed so much stronger than before!

"What are you going to do with that syringe?" Cloud was trying to buy time. If only he could figure out how to undo these straps! 

Noticing him resisting, Hojo said, " Mr. Highwind, I'll require your assistance to hold him down." 

Though Cid's expression showed he was internally fighting, his body moved of it's own accord and grabbed Cloud's head in his hands.

"Cid! Don't do this to me! Please!"

"Twist his head back a little," Hojo instructed, "I need a vein."

"Cid!"

Ignoring Cloud's cries, the scientist plunged the needle into his neck. Cloud gasped in pain as red blood filled the vial.

"There," Hojo said as he withdrew the syringe. "I've got what I need." He cradled the syringe fondly in his hands as he looked at Cloud. "Of course, I don't need you anymore. I've got plenty of other specimens to experiment on. However, for the sake of science, I'll let you watch my newest triumph before you die."

Hojo walked over to the back of the room, where the softly humming machines resided. At the very back, close to the wall, a black curtain hid something from view. Grinning broadly, Hojo yanked off the curtain.

It was nothing, at first. Then Cloud's vision cleared and he was able to make out a glass vial, much like the one he had once been in. It was filled with murky liquid, almost obscuring the object inside from view. A second later, Cloud wished it did.

It was a head. 

Not a human head. Those wide, staring eyes…those growth and tendrils…that face that was so close to a human's it seemed to mock him…

"Jenova…" Cloud breathed.

Elena's head jerked up. "What?!"

"Jenova was destroyed by AVALANCHE," Rude growled. "How could it be here?"

Hojo snickered. "I thought I might need it…remember the last time you _saw _Jenova, Mr. Strife? Where was its head?" He began laughing uncontrollably.

"You sick twisted FREAK!" Elena screamed.

Hojo didn't seem to hear her. "I'll have to use this sample to regrow it, but that shouldn't be a problem. I have Growth Enhancing machines…" he paused. "They do have many uses…" He turned back to the others. "Well, I've showed you enough, don't you think?" He took the dial out from his pocket and twisted it again, causing Cid, Barret, Yuffie and Nanaki to look up. He waved a hand at the two Turks and Cloud. "Kill them."

Chapter 15

"Of course," Zack said softly when Tifa was finished explaining. 'Hojo thought I would substitute for Cloud and not bother luring him here at all, but then decided I was too weak." He averted his eyes. "Which I was."

They were racing back down hallways, looking for the way back into the laboratory. Tifa marveled at how well Zack kept up with her, when he looked like he should be unconscious. But either way, if they were too late…

"But what are we supposed to do when we get back?" Tifa blurted. "Just jump in and hope for the best?"

"Maybe. If we can cause enough confusion we can-" He broke off when he saw Tifa wasn't running anymore. "What's the matter?"

She put a finger to her lips. "Sh."

He listened. Then his face grew into one of horror. "Footsteps!" he hissed. "Come on." Grabbing hold of her wrist, he pulled her into the shadow of a doorway. Tifa waited, her heart pounding. If they were caught…

The footsteps grew closer. Then-

"Adine!" Tifa cried, rushing toward her. She swept the child up in her arms and hugged her tight. 

Zack took a cautious step forward. "You know this girl?"

"Yes…look, it's a long story, and I don't have time to tell it now. Trust me, she doesn't belong her. Adine, why-?"

"I was all alone," the child sniffled. "I wanted to find you, Tifa. There were all these people…not moving…"

"Poor thing," Tifa murmured. "Don't worry about a thing, Honey. We'll get you home." She stopped, realizing what she's just said. Adine had no home to go to.

But she didn't have time to think about that. She turned to Zack. "We're bringing her with us." Zack looked at her set face and didn't argue.

"Fine. Let's go," he said shortly, starting to run again, but Adine spoke.

"Wait!"

Zack turned. "What?!"

"Listen."

Tifa and Zack both listened carefully, curious expressions on both their faces. 

"I don't hear anything," Tifa said after a moment.

"Neither do I."

Adine's little face grew impatient. "Listen!"

"Adine, are you sure you're not just imagining-"

Heaving an exaggerated sigh of frustration, the little girl went down a narrow hall Tifa hadn't even noticed. She followed, as did Zack, though he looked impatiently down the corridor he wanted to go.

Pressing her ear to a heavy iron door, Adine nodded in satisfaction. "Someone's crying."

Tifa listened closely. "I hear it, too," she said. "Zack?"

He sighed. "I think this is a waste of time," he said. "But I'll try to get it open." Taking out a keycard he must have taken from a dead guard, he inserted it into a slot. After a moment, the door slid open.

It wasn't a storage room like they had expected. Instead, it was dank, narrow.

"A cell…" Zack murmured.

The soft crying sounds had stopped, replaced by ragged breathing. Tifa took pity on how helpless the voice sounded. "Hello?" she called. "We won't hurt you." They heard a soft stirring, then a small figure darted to Tifa. She gasped.

"Oh my God…Marlene?!" Tifa was shocked. Barret's daughter was so dirty she was hardly recognizable. She hugged the child, then held her at arm's length. "How did you get here? Look at you, you're filthy! What'd they do to you?"

"I was okay," Marlene said when she could get a word in edgewise. "Vincent would sometimes come and talk to me when I got too lonely. There just wasn't anyplace to wash. I didn't mind that too much, though. The only thing that really bothered me were…the rats…" She shuddered.

Zack cleared his throat. "Tifa, I'm glad you found your friend's daughter, but may I remind you we are not here to baby-sit."

She nodded, then stood and looked sternly at Zack. "But I'm warning you: we are NOT leaving them!" 

"Well, I hope they can move fast," Zack said, staring to run. "Because we may be out of time."

Tifa grabbed the children's hands. "Okay, girls, we have a job to do. We need to save Uncle Cloud, so can we move quickly?"

"Yes, Tifa." Moving as fast as kids' short legs would allow, the four of them raced down the corridor, back to the lab.

~Author's Note~

Two posts in two days?! IT'S A RECORD! (blows party horn) Hey, whaddya think so far? I hope it's getting better. BTW, if anyone is reading this, pleze let me know one thing: Do you prefer a few chapters at a time, like a big chunk, all posted at once, or would you rather I posted each chapter separately? 

And thank you Cordis, for posting a certain review a loooooong time ago that mentioned wanting Zack in here. That was actually right before killing him off, so I got to thinking, and, inadvertently, my buddy Aurora gave me a mental breakthrough! Yay! I think we were studying cloning or whatever, and at the same time talking about how Sacrifices was going, and she made some remark that made me think- HELLO! ANYONE HOME THERE, LILA?! MAKE HIM HAVE A CLONE! 

Heh, I'm tired of my ramblings too. Luv you guys for sticking with me! 

~Lila


	7. Default Chapter Title

I should've KNOWN I'd get a mixed response when I asked about the group of chapters or one chapter thing! So I guess I'll alternate. This one is short, really sorry, but I DO have homework I'm avoiding, here! I promise a group of chaps over the weekend, when I have time. Just so you know, this is kinda getting near the ending. Enjoy! 

Chapter 16

"RENO, BE CAREFUL!"

As the helicopter rose through the exit, Reno saw it would be harder to get it through than he had previously thought. He jerked the controls furiously, trying to make it through. The helicopter jarred alarmingly, proving he must have clipped something. 

Still, he managed to make it out without seriously damaging anything. As they rose higher, he looked out the window and noticed they were above a rusty junkyard he had never seen before. It was packed with broken and mangled machinery and looked like it hadn't been used in years.

The helicopter suddenly slowed. "What are doing?" Aeris asked. 

"I'm not doing anything!" Yet the chopper continued to slow, sinking lower and lower. Frantically Reno pushed every button and pulled every lever he could find, but nothing changed. Then a chance glance at the dashboard made him suck in his breath sharply. "Uh-oh."

"What is it?"

"We're out of fuel." He slammed the dashboard angrily. "Of all the worst possible-"

"What do we do?!" Aeris cried. 

"There's only one thing we can do. Wait till we're low enough, then jump."

Aeris nodded. "How long should we late?"

Reno stared at one of the meters, drumming his fingers. If they jumped to soon, they'd be pancakes. If they jumped to late, they'd be going to fast to hit the ground without breaking their necks. "We're dropping pretty fast and gaining speed. I'll count to five, okay? On five we jump. Try to roll when you hit the ground." He stood and yanked open the door. Aeris came up behind him. To her credit, she wasn't screaming, or crying, or looking very frightened at all. She was a bit paler than usual, though.

"One…two…" Reno clenched his jaw. It would be a tough landing, what with all the rubble around. "Three…"

Aeris closed her eyes. Reno shook his head at her.

"Leave them open. Four…FIVE!"

They jumped out of the chopper, hurtling to the ground fifteen feet below. Aeris tensed, seeing the amount of debris she would have to avoid. Searching for a clear spot, she felt immensely frightened. She yearned to close her eyes. She thought all this in a moment, of course. The wind was flowing in her hair, and it came loose from her ribbon, streaming out behind her. This only made it harder for her to see. She tensed further as the ground rushed to meet her.

The fall lasted merely a second or two. Reno didn't concentrate on anything but the ground. All too soon, it met him, and he twisted so he could land on his good shoulder and rolled, trying to slow himself down. Once his head slammed into something, but other than that it worked perfectly. He sat up, shook his head a little to clear it, then stood, checking himself for bruises. He was A-OK, excepting of course for his injured shoulder that now felt on fire, and the numerous bumps his head had already received in the last few days, courtesy of Elena, Kralin, and the fall. 

"Aeris?"

He heard her moving some distance away. She was rubbing her elbow, which she must have sprained, but all in all in good health. 

"You okay?"

"Yeah." She stood and dusted herself off, her loose hair streaming down her back in a tousled heap. Absent-mindedly she tucked a strand behind her ear. "Are you?"

"Of course." He paused for a moment, then started to grin. "That had to be the most fun I've ever had in my life."

"Are you serious?!"

"Well, no. Being trapped on that island with you was fun, too." He grinned so she'd know he was kidding.

"Very funny." Looking around, she let out a yelp of surprise. "The helicopter!"

It had crashed front first into the ground. Two blades had broken off to land some distance away. Every window was smashed, and the door Reno had left open had been thrown off its hinges. It was totally demolished.

"Nice," Reno commented. "I wonder- oof!" He broke off as something large and heavy threw him down from behind. Reno tried to twist around to see what was on him, but something was jabbing into his wounded shoulder…then throbbing, screaming…pain…like an electric shock only a million times worse…

"Leave him ALONE!" Aeris picked up a rock and threw it as hard as she could. Both the pain and the weight on him left Reno. He was able to breathe again. 

Kralin rolled to his feet, rubbing his arm. "Good shot!" he complimented her. "A pleasure to see you two again" He was smiling, mainly because he was enjoying seeing how much he'd hurt Reno. His nightstaff was still smoking from where he'd jabbed it in the Turk's hurt shoulder.

Not taking her eyes off the man, she bent and tried to help up poor Reno, who was having trouble focusing his eyes. 

Kralin let him stand. He even feigned sympathy. "Aw, I know it must hurt," he said, voice dripping with sweet poison. He held up his nightstick, looking at it admirably. "These little toys were actually designed by Hojo, did you know that? That's how I got one of my own, by the way. Ironic, ain't it?" He laughed, a hollow sound that echoed through the junkyard.

"Are you done?" Reno pushed Aeris' supporting hands off him and stood on his own. He squared his shoulders and brandished his own nightstick. "Come on. Let's finish this."

Kralin smiled crookedly. "Nice knowing you, Reno."

He lowered his head and charged. Reno skidded off to the side, but Kralin had been expecting this and broke off early. He used his speed to pivot, drawing out his gun at the same time, and fired. But Reno had crouched and now threw himself at Kralin's legs. The two collided and rolled to the ground. Being so close, they resorted to fists. Reno's teeth smashed together when Kralin's fist smashed into his jaw. Putting the pain aside, he managed to knee his foe in the middle and tear him off. Then, for good measure, he switched his rod to maximum output and touched the end to the fleshy area between the collarbone and the base of the neck. He had learned through his experience that this provided immense torture and pain. And Reno wanted him to feel pain. 

But incredibly, even though he was screaming at the same time, Kralin still managed to land a shattering kick to Reno's knee-cap. Cursing, the red-haired man dropped and rolled. While he was still on the ground, he grabbed a handful of gravel and flung it into the other man's eyes. While Kralin was still momentarily blinded, Reno lunged toward him. But Hojo's flunky had only been faking. Knowing Reno was off-guard, he used his gun and fired.

Evading the shot just enough so the bullet only grazed his thigh, Reno drew back. So did Kralin. They stared at one another for a moment, sizing each other up. Staring straight at Reno, Kralin slowly reached a hand into his coat pocket. Reno didn't see what it was until the object was half-way drawn out: a grenade.

Reno grabbed Aeris' wrist and threw her behind him. "RUN!" he shouted as he raised his gun and aimed quickly. A shot rang through the still air, followed by a scream of pain as the bullet struck Kralin's collarbone. The grenade fell to the ground. Reno leapt away just as the huge explosion sounded.

A minute passed. Aeris, who had taken cover behind a large pile of debris, cautiously removed her hands from her ears. Silence.

Slowly she climbed to her feet. Smoke was drifting in the air, making it difficult to see. She blinked her eyes to clear them.

A rustling sound greeted her ears. "Hello…?" she called hesitantly.

At first, no answer, then a low groan. Aeris hurried over.

Kralin lay crumpled on the ground, curled into a ball. Aeris gasped at the sight of his mangled body. His eyes were closed, and his breathing shallow.

She disregarded the fact that he was her enemy, knowing only he was a man in need of help. She knelt and took his pulse. It was hardly there. She shook her head with sorrow when she realized she couldn't help him, with materia or her own natural powers. He was dying.

"Aeris!"

She turned to see Reno. He was clutching his shoulder, and seemed to be limping heavily, but otherwise unhurt.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

She moved aside so Reno could see the other man. Reno's green eyes never wavered as he took in the gruesome sight. "Is he still alive?"

"Yes," was all she said. She hoped Reno could think of some way to help.

There was a loud click as the Turk cocked his gun. Aeris' eyes went wide with shock. "No! Don't!"

He glanced over at her. "He's not dead yet."

"Yes, exactly! Why shoot him?!"

"He ought to be dead." Reno aimed carefully at Kralin's head. 

"No! Please," Aeris begged, catching hold of his arm, "let him die in peace. Don't hurt him."

"You damn Ancient," he growled, shaking her off his arm. "Where the hell do you get off preaching about life?! You know nothing, absolutely nothing, about the real world! Stand aside, cover your eyes if you have to. Just get out of my way." 

He expected her to retaliate, or at least make some hurt reply, but instead was met with silence. She appeared to be looking past him.

"Well?! Ain't ya gonna say something?!"

"Reno," she whispered. "Turn around."

Slowly he turned. There, with Vincent standing emotionlessly behind him, stood Hojo.

Author's Note:

This didn't turn out the way I expected, but not too bad, I think. Normally I would've added more to Kralin's…er…condition, but I recently received a review that hinted I was a bit too violent in my fics. Well, that IS why they're rated PG-13 (swears, too) but I decided not to make it too gruesome anyway. Besides, the next chap. has enough blood for anyone who wants any. No, not TOO bad. Anyway, let me know what you think. And yeah, next time will be a chunk of chapters! 


	8. Default Chapter Title

Chapter 17

"Kill them."

Elena reacted.

Just when Yuffie was placing her deft, slender fingers around her throat, Elena spat in the teenagers face. Yuffie froze a little in surprise. That was all Elena needed.

With a quick movement she rolled over, yanked her arms out off the ninja's grasp, and kneed upward with all her strength. Yuffie was knocked back, winded. Elena leapt to her feet. Using her teeth, she managed to rip the rope off one of her wrists. Then she yanked out her gun. Showing immense arrogance, Hojo had allowed all of them, excepting Cloud, to keep their weapons.

Darting to where Barret was holding Rude, she placed her gun to the huge man's head. "Let him go."

"Don't!" Hojo ordered.

Barret stayed put.

"Barret, don't make me blow your brains out," she whispered. "I'll do it." Her finger tightened on the trigger.

"Elena, no!" Cloud yelled from the table.

"It's them or us, Cloud!" Beads of sweat rolled down her face. One shot, that was all it would take. Then she and Rude could take down the others.

In that moment of her hesitation, Nanaki leaped at her from behind. She screamed as she felt those sharp teeth clamp around her neck.

"Elena!" Rude flipped the knife he'd been using to sever his bonds to the other hand. He thought he could throw it well enough…

Nanaki let out a roar of pain as the knife buried itself behind his shoulder blade. Rude worked furiously to pull himself free of the last of his ropes as Nanaki turned on him.

"Don't, Red!" Cloud was yelling.

Nanaki ignored him and crouched low in a fighting stance. Rude finally managed to get one of his hands free. 

Nanaki sprang, aiming for Rude's throat. The Turk waited in a crouch…then punched into Nanaki's chest as hard as he could. There was a snap, and Nanaki crumpled to the floor.

"Did you kill him?!" Cloud shouted. 

Rude didn't care about that just now. He kicked upward into Barret, bowling him over. At the same time he pulled the last of the ropes off his wrists, standing upright. "Elena!" 

She was sprawled on the ground, face down. Bloody scratches marred her neck and back. He turned her over, ignoring the buzz of the intercom:

"Professor, Specimen Z-1 has escaped!"

"Blast!" Hojo murmured. He twisted the dial in his hands again. "Kill them all!" Tucking the dial in his lab coat pocket, he raced out the door.

"Elena." She didn't stir.

A sudden shout from Cloud warned Rude just in time. He ducked aside as Cid's spear stabbed the air where his head had been.

"Rude, my sword!"

The Turk glanced quickly around. Cloud's Ultima Sword was laying on the ground about ten feet from where he was. He would have to leave Elena.

Grabbing her gun out of her hands he leapt over her still body to the wall. He turned quickly, so he could watch Barret and Cid. They didn't touch Elena, but moved to him. Reaching behind himself for the sword, he aimed carefully at the metallic bonds holding Cloud down.

"Rude, maybe you shouldn't shoot those…" he said nervously.

Rude fired. The bullet struck the metal bond and ricocheted off, taking some of the bond with it. He shot three more times in succession, releasing Cloud's arms and legs. The blond sat up on the table. "Thanks-"

He suddenly yelled as Yuffie jumped on him. Rude mentally swore for having forgotten her. He moved to help, but a sudden barrage of bullets from Barret blocked his path. He backed up, but Cid was suddenly right behind him, holding his spear. Rude managed to twist aside enough to avoid being impaled upon the spear, but the weapon still sliced down the length of his right arm. He yelled and dropped to one knee as Cloud's sword went flying out of his grasp.

Cid advanced slowly on the fallen Turk, as though trying to decide where to stab him first. Rude tried to roll away, but a wall blocked his left side and he couldn't roll on his injured arm…

The pilot suddenly let out a yelp and fell backward, almost on top of Elena, who had thrown herself at his legs. Rude got to his feet.

Meanwhile, Cloud had fought off Yuffie long enough so he could scramble off the table. He crouched to the ground and grabbed his sword. This made the teenager back off a bit. 

There was a pause. 

"Elena, Rude," Cloud said, "I want you two to be ready to run in case something happens."

"What are you going to do?" Elena asked.

"I'm going to talk to them."

"You idiot! They'll kill you!"

"No, they won't." Cloud sheathed his sword and took a step toward Barret. "Barret, it's me, Cloud-"

Barret picked up the smaller man and hurled him into a counter, knocking vials and test tubes and foul-smelling chemicals all over him.

Rude waved his arms to get Barret's attention. "HEY!" What he didn't see was Yuffie sneak up behind him. He ducked just as the razor-sharp shuriken whisked over his head.

"That's it," Elena said. With that, she swung at the younger girl. Her fist connected squarely with the teenager's jaw and knocked her backward, onto the floor. She was down and out.

"Elena, look out!" Rude threw her down just as Cid's spear sliced past them. At the same instant Barret started firing wildly. Cloud was safe, buried under the random debris he'd been knocked into. But Rude was not so lucky. He gave a cry of pain when a stray bullet dug deep into his thigh. 

His head swam. The gun slipped out of his fingers onto the cement floor. He was aware of someone tugging him, pulling him.

"Leave me…alone…" he mumbled. 

"Rude! Come on! You call yourself a Turk, act like one! Get up! I _order _you!"

"Don't want to…"

"Cloud!" Elena cried. "Cloud, help!"

Rude could hear him moving from far away. His fingers found something warm. Curious, he felt it. Warm and thick, just like…

Blood. His blood.

"Rude, move your hand. I need to see this." Elena was laying on her stomach to avoid the random bullets. She shoved Rude's hand aside and gasped.

The lead bullet had gone right through Rude's thigh. He had already lost a lot of blood.

Elena shrieked as another bullet went by her head. Barret seemed to be firing madly, with no real purpose.

She crouched low to the ground and looped the semi-conscious Rude's arm around her neck, using both hands to pull him. In this fashion she was able to scoot backward to the lab table, which would over some sort of cover.

Rude seemed to have lost consciousness. She was thankful for that, at least.

The table was heavy steel, with a white tablecloth thrown over it, presumably to protect it from stains while Hojo worked on his "specimens". Once they made it under, she hastily ripped a strip from her jacket and wrapped it tight around the wound, slowing the flow of blood. The dark blue cloth was soaked instantly.

"Rude." She shook him. "You have to wake up!"

He groaned but didn't stir. 

Elena shook her head and grabbed her gun. She'd have to handle things herself. Steeling herself, she burst out from under the table to discover Cid standing with his back to her. Seizing the opportunity, she concentrated hard on one particular materia in her gun. 

"Sleepel," she murmured as Cid nodded once or twice, then fell to the ground, fast asleep. 

Pleased at this easy conquest, she went to find Cloud. He was locked in a dueling match of sorts with Barret, using his sword to block the big man's gun-arm from smashing into his skull. Normally Cloud would have finished him immediately, but he was reluctant to hurt his friend. In that Barret had the distinct advantage. 

Elena took a running leap at the huge man. "Cloud, get out of the way!"

Cloud saw her. Barret saw her, too. Turning much more quickly than she could have expected, he slammed his metal arm toward her head. She managed to twist her head aside enough so her face wasn't smashed, but the gun-arm still caught her on the temple. She fell to the floor just as the door slid open.

"Elena! Oh God, what happened?!" Tifa rushed toward the downed Turk, taking no notice of Barret poising his arm menacingly.

"Daddy! Daddy, what are you doing?!" A tiny figure ran for him. "Daddy, stop!"

"Marlene! Get back here!" Zack yelled.

"Don't hurt Tifa!" Sobbing, Marlene threw herself in front of the woman. "Please!"

"Marlene! Get out of the way!" 

Barret blinked at the new arrival and shook his head. The gun-arm wavered.

"Daddy!"

Somewhere, that little voice pierced Barret's consciousness. His entire body shuddered. "M…Marlene?" The gun-arm lowered. "Marlene!" He lowered to one knee and held both arms out for her. She gladly rushed into them, and they hugged a moment, simply because they were together again. Then he released her and looked around the room. "What the hell? Was there a fight?"

"Yes," Cloud said quietly.

"Who won?" Barret demanded.

"You did."

"What the hell's up with that? I don't remember-"

Cloud took his arm and led him away from the others for a moment. After a few minutes Barret gave a cry of anguish.

"I…I never meant to hurt nobody…damn those Shinra freaks! I hate 'em!" With a huge grunt Barret ripped the metal collar off his neck and hurled the pieces across the room. His hand was raw and bleeding with the effort, but he didn't seem to notice. Breathing heavily, he turned to Cloud. "Cloud?"

"Yeah?"

"If I ever turn on you again…I want you to kill me."

Cloud shook his head. "No way."

Barret's eyes narrowed. "Promise!"

"It was an accident to Barret. Things like that happen-"

"Not like this, they don't!" Angrily the bigger man shoved Cloud against the wall. "Dammit, Cloud! I mean it! You HAVE to kill me!"

Cloud looked at Barret and nodded slowly. "Okay."

On the other side of the room, Elena groaned and moved a little. Tifa looked up from the "Cure" spell she'd been casting. "She's pretty banged up, but I guess she'll live."

Elena had a nasty bump on her head that was revealed by the large amount of blood that soaked her hair. She sat up and put a hand to her head. "Ooh, that hurts. Where's Rude?" Then she remembered. "Rude!" She jumped to her feet.

"Elena! You shouldn't stand-"

Ignoring Tifa, the female Turk unsteadily made her way to the lab table. "Rude!" She peered underneath. Rude's eyes were half-open, and he seemed to be aware. "Rude, are you okay?"

Gingerly he touched the wound, which was still bleeding furiously. "….I don't really know." 

"Well, everything seems to be all right now. Come on."

With Elena helping, Rude somehow managed to crawl out from underneath the table and stand, though he leaned heavily on the table. It was obviously an effort for him, because Rude, who never showed pain, had his eyes cinched shut and was even gasping a little.

"Can't somebody cure him? He's really in pain," Elena said tersely. She would have thought they'd have the courtesy to realize that themselves.

"It'd be easier if Aeris was here," Tifa replied, "but I have a Full-Cure materia." She took a moment to gather her strength, then raised her arms and cast the spell. It wouldn't heal the wound very much, but at least Rude wouldn't feel very much pain.

Cloud was studying Nanaki's still form. "He's not dead, I think," he announced. "But I think you broke a couple ribs, Rude."

The Turk looked at the floor in embarrassed. 

"Well, he _was_ being attacked," Elena pointed out.

"And we're _all _gonna be attacked if we can't find a way to get that collar off," Cloud said. "Let's figure that out first."

A forgotten figure stepped from the doorway. "Maybe I can help."

"Oh yeah!" Tifa jumped up. "Guys, this is Zack…"

The name caused a jolt in all of them (excepting the Turks) but mostly so in Cloud. He took a step toward the other man. "But I thought…" He looked helplessly at Tifa.

She shook her head. "It's hard to explain, but apparently Hojo was cloning him.

Wordlessly Cloud circled the other man. Tifa was struck by how identical they looked: same height, same spiky hair (albeit different colors), even similar facial expressions. Both wore a serious frown, though Cloud's looked more puzzled. He stopped when he saw the telltale number "2".

"Zack…" he said softly. "It IS you!"

"If I may interrupt," Elena said tightly, "May I remind you that we are in a secret underground lab belonging to a deranged nut who should be dead but isn't, have three of our allies turned traitor out cold, and have absolutely NO idea how to get out?!"

"The pretty girl's right," Zack said, smiling at Elena. She leered back, not trusting him one bit. "We first need to help your friends. I was in a collar like that once, and it isn't fun. I can show you how to unlock it." He took an odd-looking key from his pocket and got to work on the fallen Nanaki. "I originally though it couldn't be done with just physical force." He glance at Barret. "You must be very strong."

"Only when I'm pissed," Barret growled.

__

Now if Reno were here, he'd make some snide remark, Elena thought. _That jerk! Where the hell is he?!_

"Now, when they wake up, they won't realize what's happened," Zack was telling Cloud. "Like your big friend there. Best break it to them slowly, or later. We don't have time for stories, anyway." His fingers worked quickly as he talked. Within moments the collar had fallen away. "You'd better heal him," he instructed. "I'll go work on the others."

By the time perhaps five minutes had passed, Cid, Yuffie and Nanaki were on their feet, looking confused and strained. 

"Where is that jerk Hojo?!" Yuffie was yelling. "And what happened?! And how'd the place get all messed up?!"

"Calm down, Yuffie," Cloud said. "Nothing happened. We fought Hojo and he ran away. But you guys were knocked out."

There were a few surprised stares, but Yuffie and Nanaki accepted his explanation. Cid, however, had already realized his collar was gone. Now he studied the cigarette burn Tifa had left on his hand. His sharp gaze met Cloud's. He knew.

"And who the hell is he?!" Yuffie glared at Zack.

"I'm another specimen of Hojo's," he said evenly. "And I'm going to escape with you guys." He glanced at Cloud. No need to go into all that now.

"Hmph. Well, maybe you can come with us after you let me see your materia," she said. "I'm the official materia inspector of the group."

Lighting up another cigarette, Cid said, "I'm glad we have a new fiend, but can we get the hell out of here? I'm not interested in taking this place as a vacation home."

Either he wasn't sure about the truth, or he didn't care, Cloud decided. Either way, he was right. They had to get out of here. "There's ladder back here," he said. "Maybe we can find a way out." Stopping to grab a coil of rope (just in case) he scaled the ladder. The others followed.

The ladder went straight up for about ten yards, then opened onto a kind of open balcony. They were close enough to touch the mako-colored wall of the cave. A large telescope was off to one side.

"This is where the guards watch the comings and goings of the helicopters," Zack said. He pointed up. "See up there? The large hole in the cavern roof? That's where the helicopters come and go." He took a look through the telescope, looking up at the roof of the building. "Maybe we can get out in a chopper…no, both of them are gone. That's odd." He stroked his chin.

"Thanks for the architecture lesson about this place, Zack, really appreciate it," Elena snapped. "But how do we get up there-" she pointed at the cave opening above them. "-from down here?"

Zack didn't comment on her sharp tone. "I have no idea."

"I do!" Everyone looked at Yuffie, who was digging through her pouch. "These are things I got for my ninja training," she said without looking up. "Dad said they'd come in handy, I didn't believe him though-" She finally produced four simple pieces of metal with straps on either end of each. 

"What are they?" Cloud asked.

"Duh," she said, annoyed he hadn't know right away. "You put them on your hands and feet- the straps hold 'em in place -to make it easier to climb things. See the spike on this side? They dig into the surface."

"But what are they called?"

"I…forgot." She waved it aside. "Who cares? The fact is, we can get out!"

"There's only enough for one person to scale the cave wall," Tifa pointed out. "There's eleven of us."

"Easy! I just take some rope-" She grabbed it out of Cloud's hands. "-and throw it down!"

Cloud pondered. "Yeah, I guess that could work. But would those things hold you?"

"Cloud, _I'm _the ninja here. I know how to handle this sort of thing. Besides, the mako makes the walls really soft! See?" She dug in a claw to demonstrate. "I've rescued us, as usual."

"Well, I guess we could try it. Get going."

"What?!" She shrieked. "Not even an 'Oh, praise you Yuffie, you saved my life'?!"

"Maybe after we get out."

"Fine!" she snapped. "But I'm holding you to that." Quickly she snapped on the claws and began to scale the wall.

The ten of them watched as the teenage girl tediously climbed her way to the surface. Once or twice she almost lost her hold and the people below winced as she flailed frantically to dig her claws further in. 

Finally she disappeared over the top.

"Now we'll see if she remembers us," Cloud said ruefully. He was almost hit in the face with the rope as it slapped over the edge. Tifa, looking through the telescope, could make out Yuffie's head. She was yelling something, but they were too far down to hear it.

"We'd better get up there," Tifa said. "She looks pretty impatient." She looked at Marlene and Adine. "What are we gonna do about these two? They can't climb a rope by themselves."

It was decided that Barret would carry Marlene on his back, and Rude offered to take Adine. She looked at him suspiciously, but Tifa told her he was a nice man.

"Alright," Cloud said. "Everybody ready?"

"'Let's @#$%&* mosey,'" Cid said sarcastically. He jammed his cigarette tight between his teeth, apparently to free his hands. "Don't start with that wimp talk again. Let's go." He started up the rope.

"Now who made him leader?" Cloud muttered, then started to climb.

Chapter 18

Hojo's face was twisted in a grotesque mask of annoyance. "How dare you render my most valuable super-elite Turk useless!" He stepped past Reno and spoke to Kralin, speaking in a low, arrogant tone: "You disgust me, bested by this fool." He paused a moment, and a sly, contemptuous grin twisted his features. "Although I supposed it must be due to your faulty gene."

Kralin's eyes rolled up to look at the scientist. "Faulty…gene…?" 

Hojo turned up his nose at Kralin's lack of knowledge. "Honestly, boy. Where did you think you came from?"

"The…lab…"

"And did you think I created you out of thin air?" Hojo snickered at Kralin's silence. "Of course not. I needed something to work from…a human fetus, preferably…ah, I had a hard time getting ahold of one, though. After Sephiroth's birth, Lucrecia disappeared, and I never heard from her again. I soon found no other women were willing to lay with me…and sheer force would attract too much attention." Hojo laughed, an eerie sound. "With my options running low, I decided to abduct a woman of the right sort. I already had one picked out. I sent some of my men to overpower her and bring her back to the lab. But she fought them. She was a good fighter, I should have kept that in mind. She killed some of my men, and the others were forced to use desperate measures. One of them got rash." Hojo's lip curled. "The idiot got frightened and shot her, killing her." He clasped his hands behind his back and began pacing. "The remaining two soldiers of my original squad of eight brought her body back to me. At first I was furious. I had the soldiers executed." He shrugged. "But I saw no reason to waste a perfectly good test subject. I operated on the woman. Do you know what I found?" His squinting eyes had an especially evil look to them. "A perfect two-month old fetus! I managed to save it by injecting it with Jenova cells…I had those in plenty back then…"

Kralin's breathing had grown faster. "And…that was me?"

"Yes," Hojo sneered. "That's all you are. The child of a dead woman, saved only by Jenova cells…"

"So you rescued a baby and nursed him to adulthood?" Somehow Reno couldn't picture the Shinra scientist taking care of a newborn child. Hojo shook his head. 

"Oh, no. I wouldn't have the patience. I used a growth-enhancing machine to make it mature faster. Within a year, my new specimen was full-grown."

Reno stared at Kralin. "He's only a year old?!"

"Yes." A simpering smile flickered across Hojo's face. "Everything went perfectly with Kralin. I soon found I could control him with the Jenova cells and could to other humans, too. But the earlier started the better. That is why he was my best super-elite Turk."

"What about the woman?" Aeris questioned. "Didn't anybody notice her disappearance?"

Hojo giggled uncontrollably. Oh, yes. You see, she had a husband, who actually worked with Shinra. He was so…traumatized…by her death we ended up giving him two weeks vacation time. We were afraid he would cause problems."

"Wait a minute," Reno interrupted. "I worked for Shinra too, you know. I don't remember anything like this. Who was this guy?"

A broad grin spread across Hojo's face. "I'm rather surprised you don't remember. After all, he and his late wife both worked in your department."

"Who was he?" It was a simple, quiet question Reno asked, not yelling or cursing. Aeris was feeling more and more alarmed by the second. Something was terribly wrong. Even Kralin was looking curious.

"It was you, Turk. We told you she died on a mission to keep you quiet. You certainly made a big fuss, though, as I recall. HA! Ha ha ha ha HA!"

Reno looked like he had suffered a physical blow. He licked his lips, tried to speak but couldn't. He tried a second time, and got out: "You…you're wrong. Heantha never told me she was pregnant."

"Do you think I lie, Turk?" Hojo sneered. "I don't. Your wife was with child."

Kralin, meanwhile, was looking equally astonished. "Him?" He whispered, voice cracking. He stared at Reno, his rival, the man he hated with everything in him. "No! No, anyone but him!"

"It's true," simpered Hojo.

"Goddamn you, Hojo…" the dying man whispered. "I…never…knew. He laughed weakly. "Heh heh…that's…funny…" Then, with a last breath, he lay still. 

"You…" Reno looked from Hojo, to the dead body of Kralin on the ground, to his own clenched fist, and back to Hojo again. "You fucking bastard! I'll kill you!" Enraged beyond reason, he flew at the scientist, ready to murder with his bare hands. Hojo reached inside his lab coat pocket and pulled out a gun.

"NO!" Aeris screamed, but it was too late. The shot rang out.

"Argh!" With a cry of pain, Reno fell to the ground.

"Reno!" Aeris rushed to him. His white work shirt was stained red with blood. The bullet had gone straight through his chest. "No!" She couldn't heal a wound this bad…she was helpless…helpless…

Vincent Valentine, all this time forgotten, stared at the scene before him: The fallen Turk, the sobbing Aeris, the sadistic scientist, who even now was laughing. 

"Ha ha…you stupid Turk! Ha ha HA!"

A searing coldness fell over Vincent; it was time. Now, Hojo would pay for everything. He drew out his gun.

Hojo, however, turned around just in time. With incredible speed and agility, he dashed through the junkyard, out of sight. Vincent glanced back once at Reno, then followed.

"Reno, don't go, please, don't go," Aeris begged.

The ghost of a smile flew across the Turk's face. "That's strange…I thought you hated me."

She shook her head. "No, never. Look, just hang on, you'll be fine…I promise…"

Reno shook his head once, to silence her. It was no use pretending. He laid back and closed his eyes. He just wanted to sleep. He was tired…so tired…

Note: 

Save the flames, ok? At least wait till the end of the fic…something UNEXPECTED might happen…_hint, hint_. Don't lynch me just yet. Please, review, if it's not too much trouble. 

~Lila


	9. Default Chapter Title

Sorry about the long wait. Guess what? This is the last part! That's right, the end. Sigh…I was really enjoying writing this, too. Oh well, lemme know what you think! 

Chapter 19

Vincent stepped through the narrow junkyard, searching. He knew that scum Hojo was here…somewhere…

He had waited too long. If he had killed Hojo earlier, then non of this would have happened. Sephiroth…AVALANCHE…

But he hadn't been able to do it, so many years ago. Not if he was to face Lucrecia.

Lucrecia…

A sudden noise startled him out of his dark thoughts. Vincent spun around, blood-red eyes searching everywhere for some kind of movement…

Nothing.

Slowly he relaxed, but did not let down his guard. He did not underestimate the scientist; he knew him to be wily and crafty.

Vincent paused to make sure the Death Penalty was loaded, then continued onward. He was surrounded on all sides by pillars of debris taller than even his six-foot frame. Knowing his quarry could be behind any one of these, he walked slowly and listened for the slightest sound.

Despite the fact Hojo appeared to be a mere scientist, frail and weak, Vincent knew him to be anything but. The last time he had fought him, along with Cloud and Barret, the madman had had the presence of mind to inject his own body with Jenova cells, making him incredibly powerful.

But Vincent, too, was stronger. He was close to immune to any status effects, and the grueling training caused by being one of Hojo's Neo-Turks had only bettered his skills. He was confident he could kill his enemy now.

And would. 

******

Cid grunted in satisfaction as he finally reached the top of the rope. Yuffie had disappeared, but he figured he'd find the brat soon enough. No doubt she was busy pestering _somebody_, best not him. 

"Cid! There you are! Hurry up!"

Yuffie was back and trying to pull him up herself. She was looking agitated. 

"Hojo was here and shot Reno and Vincent took off after him and oh, I don't think he'll make it, Cid, I think-"

"_What_?!" Quickly the pilot scrambled the rest of the way up the rope, clambering over the edge of the hole. They were at the bottom of a large pit, perhaps a trash pit. The hole was certainly well hidden.

"He's up over the top of that rise, Aeris is there too," Yuffie babbled, hopping from one foot to another in excitement. ""Come on!"

"Guys!" Cid hollered down the hole. "Get the hell up here! We got trouble!" Then he turned to Yuffie. "Where are they?"

"Follow me!" Taking off at a run, she led the way up the hill. Cid paused to chuck away his cigarette, then followed. 

Aeris looked up when she heard footsteps. "Is everyone coming?" The others. They'd know what to do.

"They'll be here in a sec," Yuffie said. "How's he doin'?"

"He's still unconscious. We have to get him help fast."

Cid knelt and looked at the wound. He didn't say anything, but Reno looked to be in a bad way.

"What's going on? Oh my God! Reno!" It was Elena. She ran to him shaking him violently. "Reno!" She turned on Aeris. "You! What happened?!"

"Hojo…" she replied quietly. That was all.

Elena stood, shouting. "Cloud! Is there a town close by?!"

"There is," Zack said. "It's a place called Madeira."

"Okay Zack, go book us rooms at the nearest inn," Cloud ordered. "We'll see if we can get him there."

Zack nodded and took off.

"Zack?" Aeris whispered. A million thoughts shot through her mind…Zack shot on the island…Kralin…Hojo…Reno…

It all became too much. Her shock, physical weariness, and lack of sleep all caught up to her.

She fainted.

******Vincent heard another sound. He turned sharply, gun out. Once again, nothing. Nothing but some loose gravel sliding down one of the large piles of debris. 

Which meant…

Vincent jumped back just as a snarling Hojo leapt for him. The scientist landed in a crouch and straightened immediately, swinging a large piece of scrap metal that seemed much to heavy for a man of Hojo's size to even lift, let alone wield. If that four-foot piece of steel alloy connected with Vincent's skull, it could take his head from his shoulders. He backed up enough to get a clear shot. But Hojo kept moving in, coming closer, swinging wildly. Vincent ducked and fired, but Hojo jumped clear. But the red-eyed man coolly reloaded, not rushing, but doing it quickly. Before he could get his guard back up, Hojo dove on top of him, knocking him to the ground. Vincent's gun flew out of his hands. 

"Well, Vincent Valentine," Hojo said in such a low voice Vincent could scarcely hear it. "You've led me on a long struggle, but I've finally won. I'm going to enjoy killing you…so much, in fact, I've prepared a special injection just for you." Hojo opened his lab coat enough to reveal another syringe. "It's a combination of lethal chemicals that will cause the most painful death I know how to give. Pain-wracking convulsions…seizures…of course, I haven't tested it yet…shall we try it out?"

Vincent's terse eyes watched closely as Hojo slowly and purposefully drew out the syringe. But something else caught his attention; the cold metallic handle of a gun, the same gun Hojo's used to shoot Reno. He would only have one chance to get it, and then only if he was quick.

"Have fun, Mr. Valentine," Hojo breathed, sliding the needle of the syringe into Vincent's skin. Vincent waited until perhaps half of the liquid was drained of the vial, then in that vulnerable moment, grabbed the gun out of the lab coat pocket, shoving Hojo back. The syringe fell to the ground. 

"You have but one fault, Professor," Vincent said calmly as he stood over the fallen scientist. "And that is your ambition. You will stop at nothing, I repeat, _nothing_ to further your cause. And it is in that fault that you will fall."

"And I have but one regret," the man in the lab coat growled. "And that is not killing you the day I set eyes on you. But it will make no difference, Valentine. I have emptied enough of the drug into your system. You will _die_."

"You first," Vincent said coldly. His finger squeezed the trigger.

"Wait!" Hojo held up a hand. "Before you kill me, consider this: I am easily the most talented scientist that ever lived. Would you waste all that knowledge in a fight for petty revenge? Don't you want something _more_?"

Vincent bent low, so that his face was only an inch away from the other man's. "The only things I want are everything you took from me: My life, my love, my humanity. And you can't give those things back."

Hojo said nothing.

"Good-bye, Professor Hojo." Vincent pulled the trigger.

Then he dropped to his knees and threw up. After minutes of spastic hurling, he wiped his sweaty face and stood. He still felt feverish, but he'd live. He looked at Hojo's body and sneered his contempt. The scientist had underestimated him again.

Pocketing the gun, he started back to where the others were. On the way he picked up the Death Penalty from where it had fallen.

Chapter 20

Aeris woke in a soft bed. Someone was wiping her face. Who was it? She forced her eyes open.

Zack looked down at her. "You're awake."

"Where…am I?" Something was wrong; she had a nagging awful feeling. Nothing made sense. 

"I booked us rooms here," he said. "Everyone's resting."

Her mind growing a little clearer, she struggled to sit up. She squinted at him. "Zack…it is you. But I thought…"

"Don't think," he said, forcing her back down. "I'll explain later. You need rest now."

"But…" The nagging feeling was more urgent now. She willed herself to remember, but couldn't. "What happened?"

He shrugged. "Everyone made it out alive. Hojo's dead. Vincent killed him."

Hojo…suddenly it dawned on her. She sat up again. "What about Reno?"

"Reno…" For a moment Zack's brow wrinkled in puzzlement, then he realized. "Oh, the guy that was shot. Yeah, he's in the next room. We cleaned him up best we could, but…he's not gonna make it, Aeris. Cloud reckons an hour, maybe two."

"I need to see him," she said, climbing out of bed. She started for the door, but turned back when Zack spoke again.

"Aeris. We're not going to just pick up where we left off, are we?"

She knew what he meant. "No. I'm sorry, Zack. Too much has happened."

He nodded, as though he'd expected that answer. "It's all right."

She paused, then left the room. The door to the right of hers was partially ajar. She pushed it open.

The window shades were drawn. The only light came from a small lamp by the bedside table, illuminating the figure in the bed. Aeris walked up to it.

Reno's shirt had been undone and the wound dressed. The once-white bandage was already red with blood. 

And his face…

Reno's usually animated face was slack and grey and expressionless. He looked for all the world like he was already dead.

He was breathing, though. Shallow and jerkily, but breathing. 

"Oh, no…" was all Aeris could murmur as she stared. There was nothing she could do. She could _feel_ the very life force ebbing from him, but there was nothing she could do.

She wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake him, yell at him for scaring her so bad, for his big joke. Maybe he even _wanted _to die, Hojo'd certainly landed a lot of startling bombshells, none of which could have strengthened Reno's will to live.

And there was nothing she could do.

Well, maybe one thing.

She knelt by the bedside and folded her hands. 

__

Mother, please help this man to heal. He's been injured greatly, not just physically, but also in his heart. I can't do anything to help, but perhaps you can. Please, Mother, I beg you…

She prayed until she nodded with weariness and fell asleep with her head in her arms.

******

Reno was standing in a grove of trees, wondering how the hell he'd gotten there. He was having trouble wondering, though, because it was a peaceful, sleepy sort of place that made you never want to move again. If he had been in a different sort of mood, he might have laid down and gone to sleep, but as it was, he was too worked up for that.

He kept seeing Hojo's sneering, laughing face, mocking him and his own rage. Reno swore under his breath. The little grove of trees didn't seem like the kind of place where you cursed out loud. 

He'd been stupid, to rush at Hojo like that. Stupid, stupid, stupid. All those years of training as a Turk hadn't made a difference, when things got up close and personal, he relied on gut instinct, just like everyone else.

He'd been shot as a result. He was wearing a blood-soaked bandage, but, funny…it didn't hurt anymore. He wondered if he was dead. He didn't _feel _dead, but how the hell do you know if you're dead anyway?

Maybe this _was _hell. Maybe he was destined to spend eternity in the seemingly peaceful, quiet forest. Reno shuddered. He'd go out of his mind with boredom. 

Back to the initial question: Where the hell was he?

"Reno!"

He turned. Aeris was running toward him, looking beside herself with relief. He waited till she had recovered her breath, then said:

"What happened? Am I dead? _Where the hell is this?!_"

She looked around, noticing their surroundings for the first time. "This must be the Sleeping Forest. But I didn't bring us here. I wonder who did…" She trailed off as she saw a woman appear, a beautiful woman with emerald green eyes.

Reno turned again. "Heantha!" He tried to clutch at her, but his hands passed through her body like she was made of air. "How…why…"

Aeris moved off, leaving them alone. She hadn't been in the Sleeping Forest for a long time. Ever since…

She shuddered. But no time to concentrate on that.

"Aeris?"

She blinked in astonishment. Elmyra stood inside a little grove of trees.

"Mom!" Aeris ran to her. "Mom, what are you doing here?"

"Your real mother couldn't come," Elmyra explained. "She's living with the other Cetra, the Promised Land, you know. She sent a message, though. She wants you to know she will always be with you, and to ask her for help whenever you need it." The older woman paused. "I'm sure you're aware the same is true for me."

"Of course, Mom," Aeris said gratefully. She hesitated, then said: "Look, there's something I need to get off my chest. Cloud told me how you…died, going after me. I've…I've always felt so horrible about that. I wish I could make it up to you."

"Aeris," Elmyra said gently. "Reeve and I gave up our lives for a reason: You. We were willing. That's all." 

"So I'm forgiven?" she asked.

"There is nothing to forgive, my daughter."

Aeris felt a little sob rising up in her throat, and wished she could embrace Elmyra, but knew she was unable to. She settled on a small head bow. "Thank you."

In the meantime, Reno had already gotten into a small argument with Heantha.

"What do you mean 'not see you again'?" he demanded. "I'm dead, aren't I?"

"No, you are _not_ dead, which is the whole purpose to this!" Heantha said heatedly. "Your duty is to stay in the world of the living and-"

"What duty? I don't have duty, I'm-" Reno stopped, abashed. "I'm a Turk," he finished quietly.

She shook her head. "Forget about that. It's all in the past." She looked up at him. "As am I. But _you _aren't. _That's _why you are not dead, and when you wake up you will be perfectly fine."

"How?" he wanted to know.

In answer she put her slender hands he could not touch on his chest, where the bullet wound was. It was an eerie feeling, because although he _should _feel her fingers, he didn't. In fact, if he hadn't known she was there, he doubted he would've felt anything at all.

Heantha closed her eyes, murmuring softly. Within moments the wound shrank as though it had never been.

"How'd you do that?" he asked, amazed.

"The Lifestream has many healing properties," she said idly, showing him the shimmering green substance on her hands. "Since that's basically…what I am now, I can make it appear at will." 

Remembering something, he said, "Did you know about Kralin?"

"Yes," she said softly, looking away. "He's free of the Jenova inside of him, but full of confusion. He doesn't understand what's right and what's wrong. He never knew love, never had a kind work spoken to him. I tried, sometimes, but he couldn't hear me." She pursed her lips, then added, "And neither did you."

"Me?!"

"Did you think I was never there in your darkest hours? Did you think I never knew your deepest despair? That I was never beside you in your loneliness?"

He could say nothing, only lower his eyes. She was right.

"It's all right," she whispered to him. She looked over to where Aeris was talking to Elmyra. "That half-Cetra. You thank her for me, you hear?"

"For what?" he asked, mystified.

"For crying out loud, Reno! Would you even be here, if it wasn't for her? Would you even be _alive_?"

"Okay, okay!" he said quickly. "But why not tell her yourself?"

"Because it's time for me to go." She stepped away from him.

"Already?"

"Yes." She was fading, becoming transparent.

"Wait, Heantha! I-"

She looked at him. "Don't say it."

She was gone.

******

Feeling strange and confused, Reno sat up and looked around. He was in a strange bed in a strange room. The room looked unnaturally neat and tidy, so it had to be an inn.

"Reno?"

He jumped. He hadn't seen Aeris kneeling by his bedside. "Don't do that!"

Ignoring that, she said, "Was that a dream?"

"Yeah, I guess. Only I had it too. And look…" He carefully unrolled the bandage on his chest to reveal perfectly healed skin. 

"Did Heantha do that?"

"Yes," he answered, once again feeling perturbed. 

"What'd you two talk about, anyway?"

"Oh…stuff," he said. "What about you and your mom?"

"Just…stuff, too, I guess," she replied.

And both smiled, for they knew they were forgiven. 

The End

Woah! It's over! 

20 chapters, in all. And I NEVER would've gotten through it, without the support of you all! Thanks especially to 

Aurora (Yes, you can help with the mush later), 

Casey (Always sticking by me! The sweetest reviews!), 

Kally (When you get around to reading this, Miss "I-Use-My-Exams-As-Excuses-For-Everything"! Just kidding!), 

Aer Sedai (Ani K.) (Luv your poetry!)

and Anya (Thanks for the support! Your fics are awesome!) 

And also special thanks to everyone who bothered to R&R. I appreciated every one of them! Thanks again, everyone. Luv the reviews!

Oh yes, and one more thing…since I luved this so much, I decided to turn this lil' duo into a trilogy. Yup, a third. Its gonna be called Relinquishing the Past. I'm planning on making it the best yet! Better by far then the first two! 

Anyway, pleze let me know if you liked Sacrifices of the Heart. Bye all! 

~Lila


End file.
